


11:11

by plantmajor



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artist Newt, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Texting, just a bunch of aus, just different aus, prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2019-03-17 22:53:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13669002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantmajor/pseuds/plantmajor
Summary: eleven prompts. eleven chapters. two boys.[or, i write eleven fluffy & angsty newtmas oneshots that will let them live in peace ]





	1. names

**Author's Note:**

> “oooh when you told me your name i thought you were joking because it’s fucking awful and i made a joke about it and things got awkward real fucking fast” au

 

“is this seat.. empty?”

thomas looks up from his notebook, shutting it before whoever was speaking could see the badly drawn snoopy in the margins. “uhh--- what?” he sputters out, meeting the eye of quite possibly the cutest blond he’s laid his eyes on in a while.

“is this seat taken?” the boy repeats, his face neutral. thomas blinks-- once, twice, taking in the symmetricality of the guy’s face. he’s attractive, thomas admits, and nods slowly. 

“uh, yeah. go ahead.”

the boy, his face still completely void of emotion, raises an eyebrow and then sits down, immediately zipping open his satchel to take out his laptop. thomas frowns, slowly opening his notebook again. he didn’t know the school allowed kids to carry around laptops. 

he shrugs to himself before continuing to shade his drawing. thomas looks up after maybe two minutes to find the guy typing like the flash about… science.

“hi.” thomas greets after a moment, and the guy stops typing but doesn’t look up. “i’m thomas.”

“newton.” he replies after a moment.

thomas snorts, loudly, and several people in the study hall look back at him weirdly. “so you’re studying isaac newton, then?”

‘newton’ frowns. “what?”

“pff, imagine someone calling their kid newton. i wouldn’t envy  _ that  _ guy.” thomas manages to calm himself down, a smile still on his face as his quiet laughter dies down. “that’s really funny dude, but seriously, your name?”

the guy blinks. “that’s my name.”

thomas laughs again, but it comes out forced. “what?” he asks, confused and quickly turning red.”

“my name.” he says. “my name is newt. newton.”

that’s when thomas realized he’d fucked up. time slows down now, and he silently reminds himself to add this onto the too long list of all the awkward shit he’d done. he just made fun of a guy-- a guy who is attractive and smart and has a bit of an accent? a total catch, basically-- without even knowing it. my god.

“oh shit. shit, dude--” thomas begins, his words tripping over each other as he tries to get an apology out. “oh my god. i’m so sorry, i didn’t,” he’s laughing again, but this time it’s at himself and right now newton looks somewhere between scared and confused. thomas didn’t hold it against him. 

“it’s a…. nice name.” he tries; a half-assed attempt, really, but it’s an attempt nevertheless.

newton laughs (he laughed, he  _ laughed _ ) a bit awkwardly, but it’s something. “it’s fine,” he replies, and thomas realizes that yep, he does in fact have an accent. “i’ve gotten worse, really. just call me newt, if it’s any better. i’ve always wanted to change it anyways.”

“don’t change it!” thomas says, now feeling bad again. “it’s a nice name, just… uncommon.”

newt shrugs. “and you’re thomas?”

“yep.” thomas begins, letting a sigh escape his lips. “a common name, but you can laugh at it if you want. it’s fair.”

“eh. i’ll take this as a free pass to make fun of you another time.” newt pauses and reaches into his satchel again. “your number?” he finishes, grabbing his phone and opening up his contacts.

“my-- my number?”

“to make fun of you another time.” newt replies, shooting him a smile; and that’s when thomas decides this is the best awkward mistake he’s made in a while.


	2. amortentia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “you're already dating someone else, and during our love potion unit, you get asked to explain what you smell, and of course you’re gonna be smelling things that describe your partner right? uhm, but then why are you explicitly describing me…?” au

newt, who’s been in the hufflepuff house for six years now, was entirely used to getting brushed off as if he were nothing. hufflepuffs, from the information he’d gathered from different family members and other students at the school, were the other guys who liked to eat and were innocent and not as smart as ravenclaws were or as brave as gryffindors or as determined as slytherins. so of course, newt set out to prove them all wrong.

he knew the feeling of the word fuck before he really knew what it was.

his first order of business were his grades. he’d study with a ravenclaw friend of his-- alby, his name was, had been mistaken as a gryffindor by newt the first time they’d met due to his strong and dominant personality-- and he would get o’s and e’s and barely any a’s.

one of newt’s favorite classes since his first full day at hogwarts had always been potions. he couldn’t explain why. it was just something about sitting there, calmly reading and following the instructions in his book, testing out how the adding of an ingredient could turn the cauldron of liquid in front of him from felix felicis to a draught of living death.

but the reason he liked potions so much was totally not because of his potions partner. no matter what minho said, newt had not taking a liking to thomas, the outspoken gryffindor who he had been paired with at the beginning of year. he liked potions because of how amazingly exciting it could be  (once again, a statement minho disagreed with). not because of thomas.

and even if newt  _ fancied _ like thomas, it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. thomas had been dating a ravenclaw since the end of fifth year. her name was teresa, newt recalled, and she and thomas looked fairly happy together. only a horrible person could break up a relationship that bloomed from an incredibly long friendship, and newt wasn’t a horrible person.

(“i could do it for you.” minho had suggested one day, as the two sat under the biggest tree next to the lake. 

newt chuckled, not smiling. “not necessary.” he replied, twirling the pencil in his hand a few times before he continued the drawing he’d been working on earlier. “i don’t even like him that way.”

“then why are you drawing him?”

newt looked down at his sketch. it was of a boy-- a gryffindor, seen by the messily drawn crest on his robes-- who liked like thomas, but that didn’t mean it  _ was _ him. it could be minho. he was also a gryffindor.

“i see him sneaking glances at you almost as much as you do. and i hear he and teresa aren’t on the best terms.” minho pauses. “denial isn’t just a river in egypt, y’know.”

“oh, bugger off.”)

and now, in the hufflepuff/gryffindor potions class, as thomas sits right next to newt, tapping his fingers on the desk, newt can’t help but look over to him and just  _ stare _ . apparently, he’s staring quite a lot, because the next thing newt knows the potions professor clears his throat and snaps a finger in newt’s face. 

“newton,” he says, and newt jumps, brought out of his thoughts. “are you paying attention?”

“yes sir. yes.”

“then you could tell me what this potion is, then?” he points to the silver cauldron behind him, and newt gulps, sitting up straighter to get a better look.

the potion looks silvery and it seems like it has a sticky sheen covering the top of it. he’s only seen this potion in his book, so he hesitates before answering. “uh. amortentia, sir?”

the professor raises an eyebrow, amused. “correct. why don’t you come up and tell us what you smell, then?”

he hears some gryffindors snicker behind him and newt declines politely, already knowing exactly what he’d smell (freshly mown grass, a fire that’s burning strong, and vanilla). 

“i’ll go up.” a voice next to him pipes up just as the professor starts to look around for another volunteer. newt looks up from where he’d begun to sketch out the rough beginnings of the castle, to meet thomas’ eyes as the boy looks from their professor to newt himself. “if i can, though, sir.”

the professor look surprised. “be my guest, thomas.”

thomas hesitates for a second before heading up to the silver cauldron. newt drops his pencil, now completely focused on thomas, whose ears are red and his face is quickly following suit. “uhm,” he begins, clearing his throat. “i’m not the best with describing things. smells, especially, so hang in there with me.”

newt can’t help but smile.

thomas takes a deep breath, taking in the smoke that is slowly rising up from the potion. his eyebrows scrunch up together, and he frowns a little. “uhm. parchment?” he says, looking confused. “but it also smells like pencil lead. pencil and parchment? i don’t know.”

(newt, in the back of his mind, quietly notes that teresa normally only uses ink to write)

“the smell’s changing--- it’s… plants. like, tea leaves? earl grey tea.”

( _ YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF TEA  _ the same little voice screams but newt ignores it and begins chewing his bottom lip.)

“and-- this is the last one, i think--- tree sap? the sap that always comes out of the huge tree near the lake. yeah, i…” he looks up and for a split second, newt meets his gaze and all the air gets sucked out of him.  “i think that’s it.” thomas finishes, looking away but newt still can’t breathe because why does everything thomas smells sound like him and not teresa?

(he can practically  _ feel  _ minho’s shit-eating grin from behind him digging into the back of his head.)

the professor sends thomas back to his seat and when the boy sits back down newt starts playing with the hem of his robes (which has a stain on it from tree sap) subconsciously. as their teacher continues on about the lesson, going on about how amortentia doesn’t create  _ real  _ love, the two potions partners look up at the same time.

“you have history of magic after this, don’t you?” the gryffindor asks, and newt hears minho snicker behind him. 

newt stops fiddling with his robes and blinks. “sadly.” he says (pretend like it’s any other person pretend like it’s any other person pretend like it’s any other person). “was thinking to switch up my schedule, though, because if i have to sit through another bloody lesson on goblin rebellions i might die of boredom and become a ghost too.”

thomas chuckles. “are you any good at it, though?”

newt shrugs, looking away. “my marks are good enough, i guess.”

“understatement of the week.” minho pipes up from behind them and thomas looks between the two, amused. newt groans. 

“shut up, you asshole.” newt says but thomas laughs instead.

“really?”

“his grades rival even alby’s.”

“yeah, right,” newt begins, preparing to flip off his best friend when thomas smiles so brightly newt feels like he’s as blind as the basilisk harry potter killed in the girl’s bathroom.

“d’you think you could help me, then? i’m scared i might get a t and i can’t have that kind of a grade on my record when i start applying to ministry.”

“first of all, nobody ever looks at history of magic when they go over your school record,” minho replies and prepares himself to continue but newt cuts him off with a swift “you wanna work in the ministry?”

the tips of thomas’ ears go red and he nods. “i’d like to be an auror.” he admits, looking a bit nervous and newt has never adored him more as he starts to go off on a rant about how he’d love to save people to make up for people he might not be able to save and more things that makes newt grin and minho sigh.

“anyways, back to history of magic,” thomas finishes, stopping himself before he stays there talking about his future any longer. “could you help me study? the giant wars are a bit confusing. too many weird and long names that sound strangely similar.”

newt nods slowly (it’s just studying it’s nothing super romantic it’s not like it’s a date or anything). “uh, sure,” he says. “but i feel like teresa listens more in that class than i do. wouldn’t she be a better tutor?”

silence washes over them once he finishes speaking. thomas looks somber now, and out of the corner of his eye newt can see minho face-palming. “oh. well, teresa and i aren’t on the.. best terms.. right now.” thomas shrugs, looking away to where the professor is writing something illegible on the chalkboard. “we had a fight the other day... i don’t think it would be the best to ask her for a study date after not speaking to each other for 24 hours.”

newt swallows his urge to give thomas a hug. “sorry for asking.”

“it’s fine.” thomas shrugs and a small smile erupts on his face again. “so, after classes, then? in the library? i could get us into the restricted area.”

“perfect.” newt says and thomas grins just as the professor dismissed them for the day.

“that’s where people go to make out!” minho exclaims later as he and newt walk out of their last class together. “well, mostly the nerds. but that’s what you two are! so it’s perfect!”

“fuck off.” newt says and minho snorts.

“whatever, man. but no matter what you say, he likes you. you as well as anyone knows that what he smelled wasn’t teresa. it was obviously you.”

“sure.” newt rolls his eyes, but they’ve been friends for a while and minho can see right through his act.

“pencil on parchment, earl grey tea, and tree sap. it’s literally what you smell like all the time.” minho grins. “he likes you.”

“maybe.” newt replies, and watches as thomas walks by them, shooting them a smile before rushing off to his next class.

it’s not much, but at that moment, maybe is absolutely perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy valentine's day i hope this made at least a little bit of sense


	3. broken nose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “we were playing a pickup game of basketball and i elbowed you in the face and that’s a lot of blood i’m so sorry” au

when thomas feels his elbow connect with something hard, he barely thinks anything of it, dunking the basketball he’d just snatched as hard as he could. it’s only when he hears someone curse behind him that he starts to think something of it.

“ _ ah, shit! _ ”

it’s then he turns around, able to catch the exact second his best friend falling to the ground, clutching his face, trying to stop the blood from flowing.

wait. 

blood?   
  


now it’s thomas’ turn to curse, immediately kneeling down next to newt right as minho arrives on his other side. “shit, shit, shit, dude. you okay? i’m so sorry.” thomas says, apologizing immediately. newt says nothing but curses, still trying to stop the blood from staining his shirt but it’s too late.

minho, jumping into action immediately, grabs newt’s hands away from his face to assess the injury. newt’s nose is broken, to say the least. it’s red, swollen, and crooked, not to mention that there’s blood streaming out of it. there’s also what looks like a bruise forming beneath his left eye. 

newt blinks. “is it bad?” the blond says, wiping the blood on his shorts. he can barely get the words out, what with the blood falling from his nose like a goddamn waterfall.

“no.” minho says after a moment, tilting newt’s head forward.

“you hesitated.” newt replies.

“wha-- just.. just shut up.” the darker-haired boy looks up away from newt, meeting thomas’ eyes. “in my bag, there’s a towel. get it. and some ice too while you’re at it.”

thomas nods.

“now.”

“oh, shit, right, sorry.” he says before rushing off to do what he was told. thomas returns a few minutes later to see the two in the exact same position that he’d left them in moments before. except now, they’re talking quietly, and they stop once thomas stoops back down next to them.

“here.” he hands the towel-wrapped ice to minho, who immediately presses it against newt’s nose and cheek. 

“hold it there.” minho instructs and newt obliges. “can you stand?” he continues, standing up himself.

“my nose is bleeding. not my brain.” newt retorts, and thomas  starts to feel guilty. he did this. he rammed his elbow into his best friend’s face. right as he opens his mouth to apologize, though, newt shuts him up with a look. “don’t you dare say sorry.”

“but--”

“ah!” he interrupts, grabbing minho’s outstretched arm and hoisting himself up. “don’t. if you say sorry, i won’t be the only one who’s bleeding.”

“are you.. threatening to.. break my nose if i  _ apologize _ for breaking yours?”

newt smiles, but doesn’t laugh. “no, i’m threatening to tell  _ minho _ to break your nose if you apologize.”

minho laughs then looks at thomas. “get the car ready. we’re going to the er.”

“it’s just a broken nose. i’ll just stay in bed, apply some ice. it’s not that big of a deal”

“the bleeding’s not stopping, you shank, and the nose is out of place. we have to get you checked out.”

“we should go,” thomas agrees. “just in case.”

“ _ tommy _ !” newt cries. “you’re supposed to be on my side!”

thomas ignores the somersaults his stomach does whenever the blond calls him that and shrugs. “your nose is obviously broken. we have to make sure you don’t need surgery or something.”

“like i would need surgery for an elbow to the face.”

“it’s just in case.” he replies as they start to walk, looking to newt but not meeting his eyes. instead, he looks at the droplets of blood falling on the basketball court, eyes following the small scarlet trail they’ve left behind.

“don’t beat yourself up about it.” newt says later, when they’re in the car driving to the emergency room. “it’s anything but your fault, you know.”

thomas, who’s been tasked with making sure that no blood gets on the backseat of mino’s brand new silver prius, makes a face. “who else broke your nose with their elbow?”

newt huffs, something that thomas thinks is probably a laugh, and raises an eyebrow. “accidents happen. it wasn’t your fault.”

“it always is.” 

there’s a quiet silence for a moment, and thomas sees minho adjust the rearview mirror to see them better. 

“how’s the bleeding?” thomas says, voice soft. 

“still going strong, though i do think it’s calmed down a bit.”

“good. that’s good. and the bruise?”

“it hurts, given it’s a bruise and all.”

“i’m sorry,” thomas blurts out not even a second after newt finishes the last word.

the blond groans. “that’s it. minho, when we get out of the car, pummel him.”

“newt--”

“tommy--”

“you two are the dumbest shanks i have  _ ever  _ laid an eye on.” minho interrupts just as they stop at a red light, turning his head so he can see them both without having to look in the mirror. “newt, let him say sorry or the guy’s gonna explode. thomas, newt is right. it’s nobody’s fault, blah blah blah. everyone’s happy. now cut it with the bullshit and let’s get to the emergency room before the brit has an aneurysm.”

“overreacting once again, minho.” newt says after a moment, voice now slightly muffled by the towel as he repositions the ice. “it’s just a bloody nose.”

“now, i can’t tell if you mean bloody as in fuck or bloody as in actual blood.”

“that’s for your interpretation.”

thomas laughs softly. 

someone behind them honks suddenly, making them all jump. “that’s my cue,” minho sighs, turning back to face the front, starting to drive again.

thomas turns back to newt. “you don’t blame me, though, right?”

newt rolls his eyes. “bloody hell, thomas. did you learn nothing from what minho just said?”

“just making sure.” 

newt groans good-naturedly. “i’d kiss you if i weren’t bleeding so much, you shank.” he shifts so that he has a better view of minho driving. “how much longer? this stupid nose is starting to actually hurt.”

“yeah, how long until-- wait, you’d  _ what? _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote all of this while watching a bunch of women (ft. thomas sangster) kick ass on godless which is a very good show i recommend it btw. hope everyone's day is better than mine and oof expect some angst maybe in the next few chapters!!! stay tuned >:)


	4. emergency room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “a toddler broke your nose and i may or may not have snapped my thumb during a very intense game of mario kart and now we’re both sitting next to each other in the hospital waiting room” au

“what’re you in for?” 

newt looks up immediately. his right eye is slightly covered by the ice he has plastered against that side of his face but his left eye sees the face of a guy his age peeking out from the curtains that separate every bed in the emergency room. 

“this isn’t jail.” newt replies, the edges of his lips twitching upwards into a smile. 

“sure looks like one though,” the boy says. “it’s bland, the beds are hard, and it smells like death.”

“how would you know what death smells like?”

“my god, random guy with an accent whose nose looks like it’s been run over by a truck, always with the sarcasm, huh?”

newt scoffs but his smile doesn’t disappear. “you’re the one who started talking to  _ me _ , thank you very much.”

the guy laughs. “you didn’t answer my question though. what happened to you, if you’re cool with me asking? did you get into a bar fight or something?”

newt gingerly touches his slightly swollen lip, suddenly self-conscious. “uh. yeah.” he replies after a moment. “i guess you could say that’s what happened.”

the truth wasn’t anything like that, really. but it wasn’t like newt was going to tell a complete (and good-looking) stranger that a fucking toddler had broken his nose with an ipad. absolutely not.

“what about you? what brings you here at-- what? eleven thirty at night?”   


the brunet smirks. “sorry, mr. stranger. you have to be at least a level three friend to get that information.”

“you do know i can just move over a little bit and see your injury, right?

“shit, right.” the guy sighs and disappears behind the curtain before returning with a chair, setting it down with only one hand. it’s now that newt can see that he has one of those temporary casts covering most of his right hand. he sits down before speaking. “okay, fine, i have a broken thumb. the way i broke it though;  _ that’s  _ for level three friends only. even if you really are cute.”

newt ignores that last part, but that doesn’t stop his ears from turning red. “that embarrassing?”

he scoffs. “no, it’s not embarrassing… just personal.”

“so, embarrassing.”

“shut up.”

“newt!” a new voice shouts, but this time it’s a voice newt recognizes. he looks up and there she is, his fucking sister, walking towards him with a look on her face that’s somewhere between amusement and concern (but mostly amusement).

“i knew you were bad with kids, but really?” sonya says right as she gets within three feet of him. “bloody hell, newton.”

“is that really your name?” the stranger says behind him, and newt ignores him. but of course sonya doesn’t.

“and who’s this?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. “he’s cute.”

newt rolls his eyes. “this is.. ah…”

“thomas.” the stranger finishes for him. “i’m thomas, and i would shake your hand, but..” he raises his injured hand. 

“there’s no need.” sonya replies, waving him off, before turning back to her brother. “but really, newt? you had to get your nose broken by a fucking baby?”

thomas snorts behind him (“seriously?”)  and newt groans. “sonya!”

“i know, i know, no embarrassing you in front of your boyfriend--”

“ _ sonya!” _

“but seriously? you can’t go  _ one  _ family renuion without something happening, can you? i mean, at the first one, there was the fire--”

“sonya, r _ eally _ .”

“then there was the collapsing deck, and oh right! the knife incident--”

thomas lets out a low whistle. “damn, newty. you sure get into a lot of trouble, huh?”

“shut up, both of you.”

but sonya keeps going, even walking over to thomas’ bed to read his clipboard. “what about you?” she says, and thomas gets up in alarm.

“wait, no--” 

“thumb snapped from playing mario kart.” she starts laughing hysterically and newt tries to too, but he feels some blood start dripping out of his nose again so he stops, but his grin is still there.

thomas groans. “why.”

“i make it my business to venture into other people’s.” she winks at the both of them before turning around. “i gotta go fill out your paperwork now, newton. if you make out or something, be sure to close the curtains.”

“ _ SONYA! _ ” newt shouts, but she’s already gone. “sorry about her.” he mutters, rolling his eyes for what seems like the millionth time in the five seconds he’d seen his sister.

there’s a pause.

“a toddler, huh?”

“mario kart, huh?”

“fuck you.”

“maybe after a few dates.”

“...smooth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do all my favorites in every show or movie always die and why are they always played by the same actors


	5. secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “everyone knows that A has to be dating someone because A keeps coming out with love songs but no one can figure out who it is. Cue everyone in B’s life debating the matter and B trying SO hard to stay quiet” au

“he’s dating someone.” teresa announces one day, slamming her starbucks frappucino onto the table. 

“who?” minho asks through a mouthful of fries. 

teresa rolls her eyes at his manners before answering. “thomas,” she says. “he’s dating someone.”

“and you know that because..” brenda inquires, grabbing one of minho’s fries, ignoring his cries of protest.

“he’s singing in the shower.  _ love _ songs. and he’s putting his good clothes in the wash. he’s going through boxers like they’re nothing--”

“ _ tmi, tmi _ !”

“-- _ and _ , he’s always looking at his phone and smiling and blushing. it’s like nothing i’ve ever seen before.”   
  
“that doesn’t mean he’s dating someone.” minho says after a moment, having swallowed the thirty fries he had somehow had shoved in his mouth earlier. “he could just be.. texting his mother.”

“texting his mother  _ very  _ questionable stuff.” teresa continues, waving her hands around in emphasis. “looked over his shoulder once and he was texting someone that had no name, just some green hearts, and guess what he was texting?”

“teresa, please don’t do this, i’m eating.” minho pleads.

“he said, ‘ _ how could you say no to sex and donuts? _ ’”

brenda looks down at the donut she had in her hand. “thanks, ter, for that mental image.”

“you’re welcome,” she replies immediately, not looking towards the other girl. “but seriously, guys. who in the world would thomas be dating?”

“you’ve been quiet, newt.” brenda says suddenly, looking at the boy with raised eyebrows. “what do you think?” 

newt, who’s been picking at his food until now, looks up. he stays quiet for a second. i mean, what is he supposed to say? that he’s been banging teresa’s roommate for two weeks now and had been in love with him for one year before that? that thomas is the first person he goes to when he feels like shit or when he feels excited about something? that he would die thomas? and how is he supposed to explain the donut thing? he’s just not the biggest fan of jelly. 

“uhh. what am i supposed to say?” he decides on after waiting another few seconds. 

“he’s your best friend.” teresa says, a confused look on her face. “you’ve got to have at least  _ something  _ to say.”

“uhm. i hope tommy is very happy with his significant other and that they live a very happy and successful life together?”

“you’re not even the  _ least  _ bit curious as to who could be fucking thomas?” minho asks, also confused now. “who are you and what have you done with the british shank named newt? did someone break into our dorm in the middle of the night to replace the real newt with a suspiciously un-curious clone?”

newt opens his mouth to wave him off, but brenda is too fast. “what if  _ you’re  _ the one screwing him?” she accuses with a smirk.

there’s a silence, and newt makes himself laugh. “like thomas is my type.” he lies, suddenly grateful that his sister had dragged him to that improv class in senior year. 

“true.” minho laughs, and dveryone else laughs.

“i knew it was crazy when i said it.” brenda says, grinning. “but seriously who could it be? sonya?”

newt genuinely laughs at that, because they've got their eyes on the wrong sibling.

* * *

 

“i think they’re onto us.” newt says later that day as he and thomas lay curled together on thomas’ bed, staring at the ceiling. it had been quiet up to that, just laying there together, soaking in each other’s presence.

he doesn’t turn his head, but he can feel thomas frown. “how? we’ve been careful.”

“not careful enough, then. teresa told everyone that you’re most likely fucking someone after my class earlier.”

“and what did you say?”

that’s when newt finally turns to thomas, meeting his gaze. “that i had no idea about anything.”

“and they bought it.” the brunet replies with a raised eyebrow.

“‘course they did. especially minho. he may be my best friend but he’s a bloody idiot when it comes to affairs of the heart.”

“how sophisticated.” thomas teases.

“seriously, tommy, be more careful. stop singing whitney houston in the shower.”

“...did she really...”

“she had a recording and everything.”

“god damn it--”

* * *

 

“what the actual  _ fuck _ .” sonya says, her eyes widening in surprise. “who the fuck ends the movie like that? who kills the main character’s two soulmates like that? i mean, when i had to read the book for class, i thought ‘hmm, okay, maybe they won’t kill his best friend slash soulmate in the movie. i would be fine with the killing of the other backstabbing soulmate but not the first one.’ but they killed him in the movie too, and now i’m even  _ angrie _ \--”

“okay, time’s up.” minho interrupts. “no more screaming about the murder remedy or whatever this movie’s name is. i spaced out most of the movie anyways. we should do something else now or else i’m going to take out the vodka.’

“ _ no vodka. _ not after last time.” newt says immediately, throwing a pillow at his roomate, knocking him off the edge of the couch (“you shank!”).

“well, whatever you lot decide to do, you’ll have to leave me out of it.” sonya says, wiping away the tears that had started to roll down her cheeks right as her first character had died. she gets up as she scrolls through her phone, jumping over the misseclanous pillows and blankets and people to get to the door. “harriet’s outside. we’re going to go catch a movie.”

“you literally  _ just  _ watched one.” brenda says, but sonya’s already out the door.

“i’m bored…” minho complains again, sitting back on the spot he’d been on earlier, pushing newt aside so he could get more space on the couch (this gave newt an excuse to sit closer to thomas, minho’s stinky feet pushing him towards his boyfriend). “let’s play a game.”

“truth or dare.” teresa declares immediately, a sinister glint in her eye that makes newt worry. 

“yes!” minho says with a smirk, catching on. “let’s play a very innocent game of truth or dare.”

thomas shares a quick look with newt and shrugs. “why not? whose first?”

“me.” brenda pipes up. “thomas, truth or dare?”

“uhhm. truth?” 

“are you dating someone right now? and remember, no lies. we’ll know.”

“how would you know?” newt interrupts, but brenda flips him off in reply. 

“well.” thomas says after a moment. “it’s complicated.”

minho shrugs. “we have time.”

“oh. well, i am--”

“fucking knew it.” teresa shouts, pumping her first in the air. “who is it?”

now it’s thomas’ turn to shrug. “i dunno.” he plays dumb. “you tell me.”

“it’s not gally, is it?” newt says, also playing dumb. 

thomas’ face scrunches up in disgust. “that is such a horrible mental image. thanks for that, you dick.”

newt bites back a comment that is very much inappropriate and would also completely give away their entire relationship (and the whole reason they’re hiding their relationship in the first place is because they don’t want to make a huge fuss where people  _ make _ inappropriate comments).

“tell us!” teresa exclaims.

“wait until the next truth, you impatient child.”

“i am  _ older _ than you.”

thomas picks dare for the rest of the night, much to everyone’s dismay (especially newt’s. it was actually funny to see how he avoided questions).

* * *

 

teresa, in a way that overwhelms newt with deja vu, slams her frappe onto their regular table for the second time in a week and a half. “i think they broke up.” she announces.

newt chokes on his water. “what?” he asks between coughs. “wha’d you mean?

“he seems depressed. he barely laughs at parks and rec anymore-- although, it is season 1-- which is totally unlike him, and he’s stopped singing that song from love actually in the shower. the love is all around one.”

“the christmas movie version or the original one?” minho asks as he unwraps a lollipop and shoves it in his mouth.

“insignificant. but really, guys. he’s not going out as much as he used to either, he just locks himself in his room.”

the parks and recreation and the singing thing newt can’t explain, but the locked in the room and not going out thing he sure can. the more late night and early morning classes newt has to take to get the credits he needs (not to mention tommy’s own changing schedule), the less time they have for each other. so whenever he can, newt climbs the fire escape leading to thomas and teresa’s apartment (more specifically, thomas’ room), and---

(you can fill in the blanks)

“why don’t you just ask him?” brenda asks, not looking away from the laptop she has open in front of her. “see if she-- or he-- broke up with him.”

“i  _ did _ . he laughed.”

“there’s your answer, then.”

teresa shrugs. “i don’t know. something feels off.”

minho sighs and takes the lollipop out of his mouth. “are we even any closer to figuring out who it is?”

“obviously not.” brenda retorts, rolling her eyes. “leave poor tom and his almost non-existent love life alone. there’s better things to talk about.”

“like what?” newt asks, not able to keep the amused smirk off his face.

“like how minho tripped and fell into a puddle of mud while trying to ask this girl out--”

“ _ brenda! _ ”

* * *

 

“and you’re  _ sure  _ there’s no one around.” newt asks for what seems like the thirtieth time as thomas pulls him into a closet near the bathroom. they’re at a party-- housewarming, actually, for brenda’s new apartment-- and everyone’s huddled in the living room doing drunken karaoke, so of course the two sneaked off for some time alone.

“absolutely.” thomas says. “i think i’m the only one who’s been here enough times to know my way around. i’m positive no one will find us in here.” a pause. “and why don’t we just tell them? i mean, they have to find out sooner or later.”

“no!” he says, his tone low so that no one would hear them (although it’s already hard to hear in general with minho’s rendition of love me like you do being so loud that people could probably hear it in asia). “absolutely not. not yet, at least. i am  _ not _ ready to hear minho’s stupid sex jokes  _ or  _ the loud screamng that will most likely come from my sister. and everyone else will make a huge fuss and it’s not gonna be fun.”

“...you just like to see them debate over who they think i’m dating, don’t you?”

“maybe.” newt smirks, and thomas leans in to kiss him--

“i fucking  _ knew _ it!” 

both thomas and newt jump in surprise, their attention now to where minho and the rest of the partygoers have now formed a crowd. “i knew it!” minho continues. “i just  _ knew _ my best friend slash roommate was fucking thomas! told you that no one can get anything past me.”

“wh-- what the fuck?” thomas asks in alarm. 

“i was looking for the bathroom so i started pulling open random doors and boom! i find my two closest friends about to start, from the looks of it, a very heated makeout session.” minho shrugs. “anyways, i still need to get to the bathroom,” he finishes, and promptly leaves.

“why didn’t you tell us?” teresa cries out, and newt groans.

“this is exactly why.”

* * *

 

two days later, minho and newt and thomas all go out for coffee together to celebrate their love. 

once newt leaves for the bathroom, though, minho leans over the table between thomas and him, closing the gap. “hurt him,” he says, tone completely serious with his face somewhere between amused and angry. “and you’ll never see the light of day again.”

oh yeah,  _ now  _ thomas gets why it was all a secret for the first month.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you think i didn't write this late at night while watching love actually you're WRONG


	6. music

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “what about a soulmate au where you hear background music for the most important parts of your life, and when you meet your soulmate it’s dramatic and romantic music” au

as far as newt knows, he’s heard the music all of his life. of course, he can’t be 100% certain that he heard it as a toddler, because he barely has any memories from that time, but he  _ is  _ sure that he could hear it by the time he was seven years old.

he’s grown used to it at this point. he’s seventeen, he’s in his senior year of highschool, and to tell you the truth, the background music he hears every minute of his life isn’t even the weirdest part of his day-to-day routine. 

after ten years, the music has become strangely comforting. it’s also something like a sixth sense. when something is about to happen, the music changes, and newt can immediately jump into action. it gets him weird looks sometimes, but he ignores them. that he’s also used to.

there was one time, when he was fourteen, on his way to pick up his younger sister from her school, that he had seen a cat crossing the road. he’d smiled, preparing to move on, when suddenly the music changed from its usual neutrality to a suspenseful, somber tone that gave him the chills. 

he paused, confused, before glancing back at the cat who had slowed its pace. behind them, a car was coming up, getting bigger and closer every second. “no.” he had said, quietly, at first. “you’ve got to kidding me.”

newt groaned. “kitty!” he tried. “uhh-- cat, please. get over here.”

his pleading had done nothing but make the cat stop in its tracks, staring at him owlishly. the car was getting closer, now and the music ringing in newt’s ears hadn’t stopped. “no. there is  _ no  _ way that cat is dying on my watch.”

with a deep breath, newt ran towards the animal, ignoring the rules his parents had set against touching strange animals who most likely have strange diseases, and picked it up. it’s then his life flashes before his eyes, thrusting himself and the cat to the other side of the road right as the car drives by.

“the fuck, kid!” he heard as the car drove by, beeping as loud as the car allowed. 

newt had ignored him, breathing heavily. he sat up, the cat still in his arms patiently mewing, his heart beating at a rate too fast for him to handle. by then, the music had calmed down. it seemed to be turning back into its regular neutral tone, although it seemed to be getting more upbeat-- like the songs you hear at the end of movies after the world’s been saved. 

the cat mewed and brought newt out of his thoughts. he blinked twice, trying to regain his bearings. his head started hurting at some point; he figured he must have banged his head on the sidewalk during his landing--- he put his hand on his temple, trying to figure out the source of the pain, but he couldn’t find it, so he brought his hand back down and--- yeah, okay, that’s definitely blood.

“a-are you okay?” a voice said from behind him and the music began to lighten up again. a saxophone started playing, and newt inwardly groaned. why does it sound so.. romantic?

newt looked up, wiping the blood on his jeans. there’s a boy in front of him; maybe a year younger, with brown hair and dark blue eyes that newt can’t help but get lost in. “i’m fine.” he said, hugging the cat tightly. “i’m... okay.”

“are you sure? i mean, i saw you saving the cat-- it was amazing. and your accent is nice. wait, that’s weird, i just..” the boy sighed. “you sure, man?”

“i’m fine.” newt said again, pushing himself up, not letting the cat down. it didn’t seem to care. “i have to run.”

“but, you’re bleeding---” 

newt began to walk away, his head still throbbing, ignoring the stuttering from the boy behind him. the music still sounds romantic, although it seems to be quieting. good. 

(later, when he picked up his sister, she had multiple questions: why was he bleeding? why did he have a cat in his arms? why was his bruised, why was he late? is the cat for them? is it his birthday gift? their mother had the same questions, but he did get to keep the cat in the end.)

nevertheless, the music wasn’t all that bad. it was annoying when he had to watch videos or listen to the radio, but at least the imaginary conductor had the decency to tune it down a bit. the music is back to its neutral tone, and newt would say something sophisticated about music but he knows (and cares) more about visual arts than anything.

he  _ would  _ try to learn more, but how can he explain a sudden interest in music? by saying that he’s been hearing movie-grade background music for most of his life? people would think he’s crazy.

the main idea is that most of the time, the background music that would drive most people crazy doesn’t bother him much.

even now, as newt walks down the hallways of his school to get to his locker, the music’s begun to speed up again and newt has absolutely no idea why. he sighs, pushing in the combination and opening the door to his locker. he has maybe five minutes to put his things away then run to the front of the school, where he meets his sister and they walk home together. 

he’s slamming his locker shut when it happens. all of a sudden, out of the nowhere, the music goes back to a tune he hasn’t heard in maybe four years. for the first time in a while, he hears a saxophone playing, and he feels himself frown. what was his imaginary band doing? trying to set him up with som--

“hey. you, uh.. you dropped this.” 

newt turns around immediately at the sound of the somewhat familiar voice, meeting the dark blue eyes that he’d been lost in all those years ago. in the brunet’s hand, was newt’s house keys, but he made no movement to grab them. “oh. thank you.” newt says and they proceed to stand there awkwardly until the other teen coughs.

“aren’t you the uh.. the kid who saved the cat like.. three years ago? almost killed himself doing it?”

newt raises an eyebrow. “you remember?”

“i mean, yeah. you ran off with your head bleeding. i had no idea what happened to you. i was scared you’d died.”

“well, i didn’t.” newt says. his phone buzzes in his back pocket. it’s probably his sister, but he ignores it. 

“i’m thomas, by the way.”

“newt.” he replies, finally grabbing his keys from thomas’ outstretched hand. the music in the background had begun to turn into something from a rom-com, saxophone and piano and maybe flute blasting in his ear. 

there’s another pause while thomas and newt both awkwardly look at eachother. “how’s the cat?” thomas asks after a minute.”alive?”

“alive. she’s at home.”

“you kept her?”

“is the cat the only thing we have in common?”

“basically. i mean, i’m a junior. you’re a senior. you draw-- very well, by the way, i’ve seen your work in the halls--- and i... do sports.”

“i used to run track, actually.”

“really?” thomas smiles. “i started this year. mostly for credits, but it’s actually been a lot of fun. why’d you qu--”

“newt!” sonya interrupts suddenly, the sophomore at the end of the hallway. “what the bloody hell are you doing? hurry up!”

“one second!” newt calls back, shoving the keys in his pockets. “i’ve got to run, but--”

thomas’ smile turns into a grin and he takes a pen out of his pocket and grabs newt’s arm before the senior can disappear again. he writes a set of numbers on newt’s hand before capping the pen. “don’t run off on me again.”

it’s at this point newt’s cheeks turn red, and the music reaches a crescendo---the only music related word he knows--- right as his heart seems to burst out of his chest. as thomas walks off and sonya comes over to replace him, newt can’t tear his eyes away from the sophomore’s back.

“i can’t believe you abandoned me to go flirt with a random person.” sonya complains as they’re walking home. “that is so very rude, dear brother.”

the music in newt’s ears is joyful and upbeat, and newt can’t help but smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can probably tell i rushed this but i missed two days and i'm trying to make up for it. (hopefully) expect another update later today!!


	7. transfiguration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “i’m sorry i accidentally transfigured your goblet into a gigantic venomous spider, at least madam pomfrey was able to bring down the swelling and look i brought you some sweets” au

thomas’ day, he would realize later, was not as bad as it could’ve been.

however, waking up that morning to find that a first year had spilled hot chocolate all over his robes made him feel like the entire day was going to go to shit. not to mention that after that he’d found that a history of magics essay he had spent two days on had been crappy enough to barely garner an _acceptable_ (he’d written it with newt and he was really not looking forward to show him it, especially after the hufflepuff had given him a really sweet smile and had put a hand on his shoulder and said that he could do it and that he believed in him).

 _then_ getting to his next class, he had tripped over a fucking _shoelace_ of all things, and had landed really badly on his side but he didn’t have a bruise or anything (it just ached a lot) so he _couldn’t_ go to madam pomfrey he just had to sit there rubbing his arm.

and just as thomas thought his day couldn’t get any worse, _it did_ . and of course it just _had_ to happen in a class that he was actually decent at: transfiguration.

“today,” their professor had stated. “we’ll be going a bit back to basics.”

minho, his partner for the class, fist pumps the air. “yes! finally, some easy stuff.”

“dude,” thomas says, rolling his eyes, tearing his eyes away from the lecture to look at him. “everything is easy for you in this class. you get amazing grades.”

“yeah, cool, but do you have any idea how tiring that is? being the smartest kid at this school? finally, a break.”

thomas couldn’t help but snort. “asshole.”

“that makes two of us.”

“minho, thomas.” a sharp voice interrupted. the two gryffindors looked up, meeting the professor’s disapproving gaze. “are we interrupting something?”

“no.” the two said in unison, looking away, embarrassed.

“good.” she said, before turning back to her lesson. “as i was saying, the fundamentals of correctly transfiguring…”

thomas sighed, looking up in time to see a familiar blonde head of hair two desks in front of them turn around to meet their eyes. newt snickered, and thomas couldn’t help but smile. “dick,” he mouthed and newt stuck out his tongue in reply ( ~~thomas ignored the way his stomach jumped at that, because newt is just a normal guy and he has a class with teresa after this and their relationship was just getting better~~ ).

“stop being gay.” minho muttered and thomas turned red.

“what-- no, that’s dumb, minho. that’s-- that’s the best insult you could up with, really?”

minho chuckled. “uh huh. pay attention.”

“and so,” the professor finished about ten minutes later, sitting herself on her desk. “you must be very careful when casting the spell. as you might know from your charms class, wrong pronunciation can completely-- well, for lack of a better word, _screw_ it up and your chosen object might end up becoming something completely different to what you were expecting.”

“today, we’ll be doing something i like to call a reverse vera verto. instead of transforming an animal into goblets, we will be transforming goblets _into_ animals. insects, actually. of your choice. i’ve mentioned this before, but keep in mind that transforming a large object into a smaller one is difficult, but as an advanced class, i have no reason to believe that you won’t be able to achieve this. now, repeat after me: _reflectus focenta_.”

the entire class did as she asked and she smiled before continuing her lesson. “the hand movement is essentially the same as vera verto; three taps and then the incantation. it sounds easy enough, but please, _please_ be careful. remember. _beetles only, please._ ” she stood up. “you may begin.”

almost immediately, the room was filled with gasps and shouts and the groans of different students trying out the spell. minho had achieved it with maybe his third try (for a guy who played dumb he _really_ wasn’t), but thomas was, as reluctant as he was to admit it, having trouble.

“god damn it!” he cries out in frustration after watching grey smoke pour out of the end of his wand with absolutely no effect on the goblet. “what am i doing wrong?”

“no idea.” minho says, trying to cup his hands around the squirming beetle on his desk. “i mean, you’re saying it all right and the movements look okay. she said that sometimes emotions and stuff can affect a spell. do you have like, a prejudice against insects or something?”

silence.

“really, greenie? really?”

“what does that even mean, minho?”

“shut up.” the darker haired gryffindor replies, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “what tragic backstory do you have that includes beetles?”

“it’s nothing, minho.” thomas says. “i just don’t like bugs.”

“then transfigure it into something else. like a mouse or something.”

thomas bites his lip. “a spider?” he thinks out loud after a moment.

“you literally _just_ said that you don’t like bugs.”

“spiders technically aren’t bugs. they’re arachnids. plus they’ve done nothing to me and i’ve done nothing to them.” he shrugs. “i don’t know, man. it’s just a mouse seems too easy. i want to challenge myself.”

“but a _spider_ ? _really_?” minho asks, his eyebrows raised in surprise and his nose crinkled in disgust. “whatever dude,” he says after a moment, sighing. “you do you.”

thomas shrugs again, going back to his goblet. instead of a beetle, he imagines a spider--- one an old muggle friend of his used to have. it was small for a tarantula, but nice. he’d let it sit on his palm sometimes. tarantulas weren’t so bad. not as bad as acromantulas, really. _those_ spiders creeped him out a bit, he thought right as he muttered the incantation.

at first, there was nothing; just the regular smoke pouring out of the end, but after maybe two seconds there was a flash of green light and thomas’ day took the elevator to the deepest reach of hell.

“what the _fuck_ , thomas!” minho shouts. “that’s an acromantula!”

it sure was an acromantula; a baby, by the looks of it. it was about the size of a pekingese dog and was incredibly fast. minho jumps on his chair, and thomas follows suit, grabbing his book in an attempt to smash it, but it was too quick and it was gone in the blink of an eye.

needles to say, if the muggleborns in the room hadn’t already been panicking, the purebloods screaming suredly made them do so.

the professor, who had been in shock at her class going crazy in less than a second, had finally sobered up, ordering everyone to get on their chairs and be careful, and to of course, try to kill it.

“accio spider!” someone had shouted at some point, and to which someone else had replied, “it doesn’t work on living things, dimwit!”

thomas was breathing heavily. shit, shit, shit, shit, he just turned a goblet into a really venomous and dangerous spider and it could probably murder someone and shit. shit. shit!

“everyone calm down!” the professor shouts, and mostly everyone had quieted down after that. people were still moving, though, trying to make sure the spider wouldn’t bite them.

“everyone! moving around and shouting will make it move more!” she tries once more, and that seemed to shut everyone up. “now look around calmly. does anyone see it?”

thomas looks around; under his table, under his chair, under minho’s chair, and after a few seconds everyone looked up, shrugging. seemed the spider was mia. at least that’s what they thought until someone in front of thomas shouts, “bloody hell! it bit me!”

thomas’ heart stops as he finds the recipient of the supposed bite, watching as newt sinks to the floor, holding his right hand with his left. sure enough, there was a bulging bite wound on the hufflepuff’s hand, bleeding a little bit. next to him was the spider, scuttling around in a circle.

“ _arania exumai!_ ” the professor shouts, and the spider was blasted back a few feet, now dead (or unconscious, but hopefully dead). “minho!” she continues. “go get madam pomfrey!”

thomas didn’t even acknowledge minho running out. all he could look at was newt who looked like he was having trouble breathing and all he could think about was all the symptoms and consequences of an acromantula bite. he did this.

“thomas,” the professor starts, looking up from her spot next to newt. “since this seems to be your doing, you’ll meet me here after classes for detention. and later-- ah, madam pomfrey!”

thomas turns to see minho return with the school’s nurse and her assistants, along with a stretcher (shit, shit, shit, shit, shit). “how did this happen?” madam pomfrey asks, holding a potion bottle in her hand that thomas can only hope is a remedy (is there even a remedy for acromantula venom? probably, right? _right?_ ).

“everyone who wasn’t bit by possibly the most dangerous spider in the world, please leave now and go to your next class.” the nurse says, shooing everyone away and the next thing he knew thomas was out the door, a tower of guilt building in his stomach.

 

* * *

 

“can i.. see him, please?”

madam pomfrey looks at the clock and thomas followed her gaze. it was almost nine pm, and curfew ended at ten. the infirmary closed at nine, and by the looks of it, madam pomfrey was starting to close up.

“please?” he tries once more. “just for a little bit.”

she sighs. “fine. but be sure not to turn anything into an acromantula again, okay?”

“i’ll try my best, ma’m.” thomas says with a smile, and she points him to a bed at the end of the infirmary.

“fifteen minutes.”

he nods and immediately starts towards there, the bag full of sweets he’d been holding banging against his leg as he walked. newt was lying on his stomach, presumably asleep, his bitten hand bandaged up. he’s sweating a little, maybe from a fever, but all thomas knows from spider bites was when mom was bitten by a black widow when he was ten. “newt?” thomas asks softly, pushing aside the curtain that’s cutting the bed off from the outside world.

“mmf?” was his answer, and the blond turned his head so that he was now facing thomas, his eyes still closed. “tommy?”

“uh yeah. it’s me.” he coughed awkwardly, sitting on a chair placed near the bed. “you okay?”

“better now.” newt says, opening his eyes. “now that  i can finally face the asshole that gave me a spider bite.”

“newt. i’m.. i’m really sorry. i don’t know what happened, i mean, i would normally blame minho but--”

“it doesn’t matter now.” newt interrupts, rolling his eyes. his gaze flickers over to where thomas’ hand is on his bed, twitching nervously. he puts his own hand over the gryffindor’s to calm him down and thomas looks up from the ground, meeting newt’s eyes. “it happened, blah, blah, blah. i’m not badly off. madam pomfrey gave me some anti-venom, and everything turned out fine.”

“did you like… have an asthma attack or something?”

“something like that, i think.” he shrugs. “my immune system’s always been shit, so i guess the venom or whatever kicked in faster. i couldn’t breathe well. madam pomfrey says i have a fever but that it’ll pass by tomorrow. all i know for sure is that i’m jacked up on a bunch of potions and drugs and medicine.”

“what’s in the bag?” newt continues after a moment.

“getting right to the point, huh?” thomas laughs, setting the bag on his lap. he takes out a chocolate frog and throws it to newt, who catches it with his free hand. “it’s all candy. mostly from minho’s stash, but some from mine.”

newt chuckles. “okay good. now i’ve forgiven you. you can leave now.”

“is that all i am to you? just some gryffindor who gives you sweets?”

“basically.”

thomas jokingly scoffs. “how rude.”

newt’s hand is still on thomas’ and neither of them move their hands away. they stay like that for a little bit, just basking in each other's presence, until newt breaks the silence. “what did you get on the essay?”

thomas blinks. he didn’t expect the question. “hmm?”

“the history of magic essay. the one we worked on in the restriction section.”

“oh. uhh.. good. i did good. a good grade. a better grade. a fun, amazing grade.”

“what’d you get? an a?”

“...no.”

“you hesitated.” newt pauses. “and whatever you got, it’s fine. it doesn’t mean your less intelligent than anyone else. grades don’t measure your intelligence.”

“it’s. it’s not because of that. i mean, you _helped_ me with it. i should’ve at least gotten a good grade. i feel like i _failed_ you, in some way. and then with the.. spider and everything...”

newt laughs bitterly. “you could never fail me, tommy. and the spider.. well, hell, i expected you to transfigure the goblet into something worse. like a.. chinese fireball or something.” he squeezes the other’s hand.

“really? a chinese fireball? ukrainian ironbellies are so much cooler.” thomas retorts, the insecure feelings momentarily forgotten.

newt gasps over-dramatically. “a chinese fireball could take an ironbelly _any_ day.”

“you’re a complete liar.”

“i’m _your_ liar.” newt says instantly, and then groans. “sorry, shit, i.. i didn’t mean in that way, i meant more like..”

“no, i…” thomas moves in closer. “i get it.”

“you do?”

he edges even closer, close enough to feel newt’s warm breath against his neck. “i…”

“thomas.” a voice interrupts the two, and they both look up, seeing madam pomfrey standing at the end of the bed. “time’s up. fifteen minutes have passed, and you must get back to your common room. you can come back tomorrow”

thomas looks back at newt, who smiles. “see you then,” he whispers, letting thomas’ hand fall away from his.

“see you.” thomas repeats, and he lets madam pomfrey escort him out of the infirmary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> disclaimer: acromantula bites and their effects aren't really explained anywhere but all the websites i've read and the harry potter guide i have says 'quick death' if not treated very soon after venom exposure' and black widow bites and stuff can give you a fever and respiratory problems so i just. mixed 'em all together.


	8. gym class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “i twisted my ankle and you’re the only one here strong enough to carry me to the nurse’s office but we’re both really awkward” au

“what do you guys have next?” minho asks, leaning next on the locker next to newt’s.

thomas shrugs, looking at his schedule. he and newt, who is rummaging through his locker, had the same schedule, an exception being their homeroom. newt had advanced bio, and thomas had a regular old science class. 

“uhh… gym, i think.” thomas shrugs again. “these schedules always confuse me.”

“we have gym.” newt confirms, zipping open his bag and shoving some books inside. he slams his locker shut when he was done, making his two best friends jump.

“gym seventh period? that sucks. you have to go to last period all sweaty and tired”

thomas looks up from his schedule. “it’s better than gym first period.” he retorts, as minho himself had gym first period. 

minho rolls his eyes and looks at his watch. “i gotta get going.” he says. “my class is on the other side of the building.” he gives them a salute. “see ya, gays.”

thomas frowns, and calls out towards minho as he ran off. “did you mean  _ guys _ ?”

“nope!”

newt sighs, the ghost of a smile on his face. “ignore him. he’s being an idiot.”

(minho, was in fact, being very smart, if not annoying. 

you see, he and newt had had a conversation while thomas ran back to his classroom to grab a notebook he’d forgotten. the two had been standing in front of said classroom, a few feet away from the door.

“you’ve gotta tell him.” minho said, a sly smirk appearing on his face. he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

“i’ve no idea what you’re on about.” newt replied simply, looking away from the other boy.

minho snorted. “yeah, right. keep telling yourself that; whatever lets you sleep at night.”

“he might not even..”

“like you back? please.”

“not so loud, minho.”

“dude, no offense, but no one cares about your gay-scapades.” he looked out at the sea of pubescent teenagers, who were pushing past each other to get to class. 

“i hate you.”

“you love me. and if you two keep being painfully oblivious to each other's school girl crushes, i  _ swear _ , i’ll give you a gun and beg for you to kill me. even aris is complaining.  _ aris _ . the guy is normally too polite to complain but even you’ve got him doing it.”

newt rolled his eyes. “you’re being dramatic. i don’t fancy thomas, and even if i did, he certainly doesn’t fancy me.”

minho groaned. “ and you’re supposed to be the  _ smart  _ one in the relationship.”

newt punched him in the gut.)

the first bell rings, and thomas curses. “we should start moving,” he says, grabbing newt’s wrist (so, so close to his hand) and starts pulling him through the hall, weaving in between the students (mostly freshmen) rushing to their class, trying not to be late.

newt tries to keep up, his limp being an absolute dick as always, but mostly lets himself be pulled all the way to the gymnasium. the two immediately burst into the locker room, changing as fast as they could, and by the time they’re sitting on the bleachers with the rest of their class, the gym teacher’s already calling out names for attendance. 

he’s new, and it’s his, what? second week on the job? the last guy had quit unexpectedly,  so the school had been left scrambling to find a replacement. thomas thought that they had just hired the first guy on the list, because if the school board had even bothered to get to know him they never would have even thought about hiring him. 

“isaac newton?” the teacher calls out. newt raises a hand lazily, and the adult snorts. “seriously? isaac newton?” his voice is gruff and unimpressed, and he looks up, meeting newt’s gaze.

“blame my parents.” newt replies easily, having said this line too many times before.

“smartass.” the teacher mutters, and goes through the rest of the list quickly. “today, since it’s a thursday and tomorrow you all have break, i’ve decided to go easy on you all. twelve laps around the track”

the entire class groans. thomas sighs, sharing an unsurprised look with the blond next to him. newt shrugs in reply. he’s got a doctor’s note for running. “don’t look so dead inside, you shank. you could run that in half the period. ” he says and thomas sticks his tongue out at him.

“it still sucks, though.”

the teacher blows on his whistle and claps, as if the ear-splitting sound of the whistle wasn’t enough to get them up off the bleachers. “outside!” he shouts, pointing to where a TA has the door opened. “and the second you feel the sun hit you, you start running!” 

he looks pointedly at newt, who’s just gotten down from the bleachers. thomas is right next to him, and the teacher narrows his eyes. “that includes you, sir isaac newton.” he says the name mockingly, and thomas slings an arm around newt’s shoulders the second he sees him start tensing up.

“i’ve got a note.” newt replies and the teacher shrugs. 

“everyone’s got some kind of note. what’s yours for? a limp? i barely see it when you walk. you can run.” he blows on his whistle again, making the two teens wince from the sudden sharp noise. 

“it’s not for the limp.” newt frowns. “ i can’t run on my leg for a long amount of time or else it--”

“excuses, excuses.” he motions to the door. “run ten laps, then. let’s go. you too, thomas.”

thomas crosses his arms. “he can’t run.”

“ten laps are easy.” the teacher claps, and starts to herd them and the remaining students out the door.

 

* * *

 

thomas hangs back by newt, who’s just been walking slowly the entire time. “he’s a dick.” thomas says for the third time since they’ve started ‘running’. “your leg okay?”

“s’not superbad. just annoying. like always.”

“pick up the pace, newt!” the teacher calls out. “you too, thomas!”

“what a--”

“dick, yeah.” newt finishes and gives thomas a small smile. “go ahead. i haven’t even finished my first lap. you’d be finished by now.”

“exaggeration at its finest.”

“absolutely not. you’re the fastest person at this school.”

thomas laughs, and newt’s smile grows. “don’t let minho hear you say that,” the brunet replies, and his smile falters. “you sure you don’t mind me leaving you behind?”

newt shrugs. “nope. i don’t care if i fail this class. it’s useless anyway.”

“ _ didn’t you hear me, lovebirds? pick up the pace! _ ”

the two blush, and newt playfully pushes thomas ahead of him. “go. i’ll meet you once you’re done.”

thomas hesitates for a moment, uncertain, before taking a few deep breaths and running off. newt watches him, still keeping up his slow pace until the teacher yells at him again. “finish at least two laps, slowpoke! aren’t you supposed to be some genius?”

“bloody hell.” newt scowls. what the hell was up with this guy? 

“ _ go! _ ”

now, anyone who really knows newt is aware of one thing; as level headed and fair as he was, newt was pretty fucking stubborn. he was also a smartass. so of course, like anybody getting taunted by a gym teacher, newt begins to fucking run. 

“yes! that’s exactly what i’m talking about! if that’s what it takes to get you to stop lying about a goddamn limp!”

his leg hurts--- of course it does--- but he ignores it and continues to run. he had run track, of course he did, but you can’t exactly be a runner if you can barely run a lap around the lake without collapsing because your leg suddenly stopped working because it’s sore and still recovering from an injury. 

which is exactly what happens. 

all of a sudden, his ankle twists, his knees buckle, and he falls to the floor, side slamming against the damp dirt. he immediately tries to move his legs, but winces in pain. “bloody hell.” newt mutters. “fuck.”

“newt!” he hears thomas’ voice call out, and soon after the rapid footsteps to go with it. the brunet’s face comes into view, frowning deeply. “shit, newt, you okay?”

“does it look like i’m fucking okay?”

thomas rolls his eyes, moving to look at the blond’s leg. “dammit, can you move your bad leg? the left one?”

“i know what leg i have fucked up, doctor.”

“what the hell happened here?” the gym teacher says, jogging towards them.

“his ankle’s twisted. it’s his bad leg, too.” thomas sounds something between livid and worried.

“damn.” the teacher groans, looking down at his wristwatch. “get him to the nurse, then. the period’s almost over. hurry up.” he says and walks away.

“hurry up? this was your fau--”

“tommy,” newt warns, grabbing the boy’s hand (wrist wrist he was trying to grab his wrist). “just help me up.”

thomas snorts, his anger temporarily forgotten. “like i’m letting you walk.” he says, and helps newt sit up. 

“then how are you going to get me to the infirmary, then? by carrying me?”

thomas says nothing, turning red.

“tommy…”

 

* * *

 

“yep. this is definitely sprained.” the nurse concludes. “and based on your old… injuries, it’d probably be best to get it checked out at the hospital. i’ll be calling your parents.”

newt groans as the nurse strides off, closing the curtains, leaving thomas and newt alone, with a little bit of privacy. “so,” thomas says after a moment of silence, sitting on a rolly chair next to the cot newt was currently lying in.

“so?”

“so, that teacher is a complete  _ asshole _ . they should fire him. i’m going to file a complaint.”

“like the school board actually listens to the students. it would do absolutely nothing.”

“no pessimism, newton.” thomas scolds mockingly. “but seriously-- you had a note. you had an obvious limp. he thought you were just another edgy kid trying to get out of gym.”

“to be fair, i  _ am  _ an edgy kid.”

“no, you’re not. you have real problems, and that teacher is 99 of them.”

newt rolls his eyes. “no, 99 of my problems are you carrying me right past minho’s classroom right when he was at the door.” he complains, crossing his arms. “do you know how embarrassing that was?”

thomas frowns. “is hanging out with me really that embarrassing?”

“no!” newt exclaims. “no! no, not hanging out with  _ you _ , just… me, incapacitated, being carried like a bride through the hallway in front of minho, someone who will tease forever tease me for that, by the guy i’ve been pining for for  _ ages _ , no less--” he cuts himself off when he realises what he’s said, turning red. 

thomas coughs awkwardly. “sorry-- by your  _ what _ ?”

newt, who’s shoved a pillow in his face, replies with his voice slightly muffled. “nothing, nothing, i didn’t say anything..”

“well, you  _ said  _ something--”

“you’re bloody insane, i haven’t said anything.”

“newt--”

“thomas--”

there’s a long silence. newt’s face is still plastered against the cheap pillow and thomas is looking at the floor. the two of them are blushing heavily. being as they are, the two were probably going to stay like that for a while, but their awkward silence is interrupted by the nurse, who throws open the curtains. 

“your mother is on her way, isaac.” she says, flipping through the chart in her hands. she looks up and begins to frown. “what’s wrong with you two?”

newt moves the pillow off his face. “absolutely nothing. everything is perfectly alright.”

she nods, unconvinced. “uh huh.. well, she’ll be here in maybe fifteen minutes.” she turns to thomas. “and you, you should be getting back to class by now. but i guess i could give you a few more minutes.”

once she leaves the room, thomas turns to newt. “is your leg better?”

“better than my dignity.” newt retorts, not meeting the other boy’s eyes.

another moment of silence before an “i like you too,” escapes thomas’ mouth, so quiet and so fast that newt’s barely able to hear it without straining his ears.

“i’m sorry, what?”

“i’m not doing that again,” thomas says, finally looking up at the blond’s face. “i like you too. assuming you did say that you liked me and i didn’t hear you wrong.” he edges closer, cupping a hand on newt’s face. 

“you didn’t.” newt says, and pulls him in a for kiss.

three seconds later, thomas breaks the kiss, pulling away for a moment. “you do know that i’m still killing that teacher, right?”

“oh, shut up and kiss me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) i've sprained both of my ankles at least once so me too newt  
> 2) will edit this later because i'm not completely happy with it so expect some changes maybe tomorrow or the day after
> 
> thanks for reading!! xx


	9. characters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “i use the characters like us to confess to you subtly but ‘wow that’s irritating you think they’d see how much y cares about x by now’ NO KIDDING SHERLOCK” au

**_[ to:_ ** **“newt’s immune system is SHIT”** **_]_ **

**_(11;37 AM)_ **

 

**_salamander:_ ** you written anything yet??

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Yeah, actually

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Sharing the link now

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Shared

 

**_salamander:_ ** opened it now

 

**_salamander:_ ** cheers

 

**_minhoe:_ ** stop texting in class tom tom

 

**_minhoe:_ ** since newts not here imma have to copy the notes from you later but i cant copy if you’re not listening

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** I’m keeping the amphibian company

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Give him something to do while he suffers with the flare

 

**_minhoe:_ ** the flare

 

**_newt:_ ** the flare

 

**_[_ ** **minhoe** **_has changed the group name to_ ** **newt has the flare!1!!1!1!!1!1!!** **_]_ **

**_(11;45 AM)_ **

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** *the flu

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** fuck off

 

**_salamander:_ ** tommy’s just letting me beta a work of his

 

**_salamander:_ ** otherwise i would probably be trying to bite someone’s head off from the boredom

 

**_minhoe:_ ** dark

 

**_minhoe:_ ** im liking the vibe, sick newt

 

**_minhoe:_ ** and how come i dont get to read your story tom tom :(((((((((((((((((((

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Because you would make fun

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** at least the frog is a Honest and Trustworthy friend

 

**_salamander:_ ** why must you give me so many nicknames based on a nickname that’s not even based on my first name

 

**_minhoe:_ ** shut up you caecilian

 

**_salamander:_ ** okay by now you’re just looking up random amphibians

 

**_minhoe:_ ** would you rather us call you isaac

 

**_[_ ** **minhoe** **_has changed_ ** **salamander** **_’s name to_ ** **Isaac Newton** **_]_ **

**_(11;50 AM)_ **

 

**_Isaac Newton:_ ** dick

 

**_[_ ** **Isaac Newton** **_has changed_ ** **Isaac Newton** **_’s name to_ ** **newt** **_]_ **

**_(11;51 AM)_ **

 

**_minhoe:_ ** shit ms paige is looking at me weird

 

**_minhoe:_ ** gotta blast hide your phone thomas

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** That’s my cue, then

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Read it and tell me what you think ;)

 

**_newt:_ ** good luck w/ school

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** good luck w/ the flare

 

* * *

 

 

**_[_ ** **to:** **_“_ ** **newt has the flare!1!!1!1!!1!1!!** **_” ]_ **

**_(3;51 PM)_ **

 

**_newt:_ ** have classes finished yet

 

**_minhoe:_ ** dude how do you not know what time school ends

 

**_newt:_ ** i’m sick i forget

 

**_minhoe:_ ** pshhhhhhhh

 

**_minhoe:_ ** classes r done but your boyfriend and i are at a meet sooooo

 

**_newt:_ ** shit sorry i forgot that was today

 

**_newt:_ ** and he’s NOT my boyfriend

 

**_minhoe:_ ** k

 

**_newt:_ ** i despise you

 

**_minhoe:_ ** love u too boo <3

 

**_minhoe:_ ** but seriously i need to go what do u need

 

**_newt:_ ** aaaaah

 

**_newt:_ ** tell tommy i finished his story and that it was great!!!!

 

**_newt:_ ** good luck

 

**_minhoe:_ ** mmmmmmmmmmm

 

* * *

 

 

**_[ dm to: “_ ** **caucasian usain bolt** **_” ]_ **

**_(5;23 PM)_ **

 

**_newt:_ ** you win?

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Not first place but something

 

**_newt:_ ** something isn’t nothing

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** I guess so

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Did you read it????

 

**_newt:_ ** absolutely 

 

**_newt:_ ** it was bloody AMAZING

 

**_newt:_ ** you have talent, tommy

 

**_newt:_ ** admit it

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Only when you admit your own talent

 

**_newt:_ ** what talent

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** I’ve seen your drawings don’t Even

 

**_newt:_ ** ANYWAYS

 

**_newt:_ ** the plot was good, and the references to sherlock just warmed my cold english heart

 

**_newt:_ ** there were a few plot holes but they were really small and i didnt notice them ‘till i read it for like. the third time

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Oh?

 

**_newt:_ ** but the best part so far

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** ????

 

**_newt:_ ** was how ANGRY I WAS AT THE SEXUAL TENSION BETWEEN THE MAIN CHARACTER AND HIS SIDEKICK

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Neil’s not really terry’s SIDEKICK

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** You know how like in that episode where john gets married in the bbc show version of sherlock holmes, sherlock’s all like “OH JOHN’S THE REASON I’M NOT DEAD HE’S GREAT”

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** It’s kind of like that

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** But yeah, continue, you were angry ??? at the sexual tension?

 

**_newt:_ ** it’s so OBVIOUS that terry is infatuated w/ neil but neil’s just

 

**_newt:_ ** you’d think neil would see how much terry cares about them

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** …..i know, right

 

**_newt:_ ** and nothing happens to them in the end it’s just another 300 words of terry pining

 

**_newt:_ ** god, tommy, what have you done 2 me

 

**_newt:_ ** why am i infatuated with characters from an unpublished (yet amazing) story

 

**_newt:_ ** another sign as to why you are a Good Writer ™

 

**_newt:_ ** where’d you get the sexual tension to seem so??? real??????

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** just something i’ve witnessed

 

**_newt:_ ** you will write another, won’t you?

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Absotootely

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** Now, about those plot holes

 

* * *

 

 

**_[ dm to: “_ ** **caucasian usain bolt** **_” ]_ **

**_(11;45 PM)_ **

  
  


**_minhoe:_ ** way to be subtle u dildo

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** ??????

 

**_minhoe:_ ** youre lucky that its saturday tmrw

 

**_minhoe:_ ** the frog is oblivious as fuck but

 

**_minhoe:_ ** i am not (;

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about

 

**_minhoe:_ ** neil? terry?????

 

**_minhoe:_ ** newt sent me the link to your story because he thought it was good and wanted another point of view on it

 

**_caucasian usain bolt:_ ** _ ……………... _ I have no idea what you’re talking about

 

**_minhoe:_ ** sure sweaty

 

**_[_ ** **minhoe** **_has changed_ ** **caucasian usain bolt** **_’s name to_ ** **newt’s boyfriend** **_]_ **

**_(11:52 PM)_ **

 

 ** _[_** **newt’s boyfriend** ** _has changed_** **newt’s boyfriend** ** _’s name to_** **better than** **minho** ** _]_**

**_(11;53 PM)_ **

 

**_minhoe:_ ** dick

 

**_better than minho:_ ** :)

 

**_minhoe:_ ** but anyways i cannot BELIEVE you confessed your gay love through a fucking 10,000 word story you wrote on google docs

 

**_better than minho:_ ** ..

 

**_minhoe:_ ** i stg if you say that you have no idea what i’m talking about i WILL dropkick you into tomorrow

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Look man

 

**_better than minho:_ ** it was something I wrote to vent and newt found out about it and wanted to read it so I shared it with him

 

**_better than minho:_ ** But I don’t have a crush on him it’s just an unfortunate coincidence that the our names and those names match and the characters have weird sexual tension

 

**_minhoe:_ ** k

 

**_minhoe:_ ** you sent it to him hoping that he would figure it out didnt you

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Maybe

 

**_minhoe:_ ** fuckin knew it

 

**_better than minho:_ ** It’s not a yes!!!

 

**_minhoe:_ ** it is and you know it

 

**_minhoe:_ ** my eyes are getting droopy but

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Weak

 

**_minhoe:_ ** shut your fuck

 

**_minhoe:_ ** i am a Growing Boy

 

**_better than minho:_ ** you are almost eighteen

 

**_minhoe:_ ** as i was SAYING

 

**_minhoe:_ ** before i was so RUDELY INTERRUPTED **_  
  
_ **

**_minhoe:_ ** do not send another part or whatever of that story to newt

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Uh

 

**_minhoe:_ ** you did didn’t you

 

**_better than minho:_ ** I wrote a lot and he wanted to read more and I was hoping..

 

**_minhoe:_ ** like i said before newt is smart but his smartness leaves no room for non obliviousness so he is very oblivious

 

**_minhoe:_ ** the more he reads the more he’s into it and the more he will know and the sooner he will find out and this can finish in only two ways

 

**_minhoe:_ ** he is happy and thought it was cute

 

**_minhoe:_ ** or he’s angry bc he thought you should have told him

 

**_minhoe:_ ** u two like each other just pull of the bandaid 

 

**_minhoe:_ ** gooooodnight

 

* * *

 

 

**_[_ ** **to:** **_“_ ** **newt has the flare!1!!1!1!!1!1!!** **_” ]_ **

**_(10:36 AM)_ **

 

**_minhoe:_ ** still sick, newty?????

 

**_newt:_ ** sadly so

 

**_newt:_ ** i would rather be outside!!!!! frolicking in the woods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

**_better than minho:_ ** you should be on comedy central what funny jokes

 

**_minhoe:_ ** the only joke here is the fact that you think youre better than me

 

**_better than minho:_ ** at least my grammar is better

 

**_minhoe:_ ** my grammar is perfectly fine its just that my texts arent being graded so it doesnt matter

 

**_minhoe:_ ** also youre a writer man ofc you have grammar skills

 

**_newt:_ ** girls, girls, please

 

**_newt:_ ** you’re both beautiful

 

**_newt:_ ** also!!! tommy

 

**_better than minho:_ ** si?

 

**_newt:_ ** the next part you sent me was as good as the first one

 

**_newt:_ ** just work a little bit on the forgetting details thing we talked about but!!! overall it was bloody fantastic

 

**_better than minho:_ ** :)

 

**_newt:_ ** also neil and terry have to get their heads out of their asses and realize that they do indeed like eachother

**_better than minho:_ ** well the point is that it’s from terry’s pov so it’s never clear if neil likes him

 

**_better than minho:_ ** it might never be

 

**_better than minho:_ ** I’m not sure if neil’s character would reciprocate the feelings

 

**_newt:_ ** you

 

**_newt:_ ** you wrote him

 

**_better than minho:_ ** I’m just.. not sure

 

**_minhoe:_ ** this is actually physically hard to watch

 

**_newt:_ ** wh

 

**_minhoe:_ ** also salamander your name is boring

 

**_[_ ** **minhoe** **_has changed_ ** **newt** **_’s name to_ ** **mudpuppy** **_]_ **

**_(10;49 AM)_ **

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** it’s just another amphibian

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** way to be original

 

**_minhoe:_ ** shush

 

**_better than minho:_ ** I have to go

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Goodbye remember I’m better than minho xoxo

 

**_minhoe:_ ** No

 

* * *

 

 

**_[ dm to: “mudpuppy” ]_ **

**_(11;18 AM)_ **

 

**_minhoe:_ ** can i come over

 

**_minhoe:_ ** and feed you like soup and stuff

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** soup?

 

**_minhoe:_ ** that’s what sick people eat right

 

**_minhoe:_ ** lmao i dont know im like rarely sick

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** sure i guess

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** my parents arent home until 10

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** maybe then you can help me with my story :/

 

**_minhoe:_ ** a story to rival thomas’?????? :0

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** no

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** a story to go WITH tommy’s

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** i’m not an idiot. i know i’m neil

 

**_minhoe:_ ** the plot thickens

**_mudpuppy:_ ** i just need to figure out who terry is

 

**_minhoe:_ ** TFJAYGJYTF are you KIDDING me

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** yes i’m not that dull i know terry is tommy

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** i figured it out after re reading the second part

 

**_minhoe:_ ** not as oblivious as i thought but it still took you awhile

 

**_minhoe:_ ** i’ll be over in fifteen

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** see you then dick

 

* * *

 

 

**_[ dm to: “_ ** **better than minho** **_” ]_ **

**_(5;33 PM)_ **

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** i sent you a link

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** you get it?

 

**_better than minho:_ ** ??? Yes

 

**_better than minho:_ ** wow uh

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Give me a minute or twenty to read it all this is a lot

**_mudpuppy:_ ** take your time

 

* * *

 

**_[ dm to: “_ ** **mudpuppy”** **_]_ **

**_(5;56 PM)_ **

 

**_better than minho:_ ** I finished it

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** was it good?

 

**_better than minho:_ ** ..yeah

 

**_better than minho:_ ** nice ending

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** yeah? minho helped me w/ it

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Of course he did

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** the ending was all me, though

 

**_better than minho:_ ** Oh?

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** yes

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** you wouldn’t write it, so consider it a fanfiction i suppose

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** one where terry’s feelings are reciprocated

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** i think i wrote it pretty realistically

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** but of course, you’re the original author. your thoughts?

 

**_better than minho:_ ** i agree

 

**_better than minho:_ ** can i come over?

 

**_mudpuppy:_ ** the door’s unlocked

 

* * *

****

 

**_[ dm to: “_ ** **smartest smart ass” ]**

 

**_minhoe:_ ** they tried to make out but then they realized newt was sick so they stopped and it was really funny

 

**_smartest smart ass:_ ** Ah, so they finally got their heads out of their asses

 

**_minhoe:_ ** we’re not the best of friends, but i figured it would be a nice enough move to tell u idk

 

**_smartest smart ass:_ ** Aw, Minho…. you’re so sweet!!!!!!! <33333

 

**_minhoe:_ ** oh fuck off teresa

 

**_smartest smart ass:_ ** Why are you even there watching them

 

**_smartest smart ass:_ ** That’s a bit creepy. Even for you.

 

**_minhoe:_ ** i was hanging out at newt’s when thomas came over so i’m just raiding the newton’s kitchen patiently while they make it to second base

 

**_smartest smart ass:_ ** Smart

 

**_minhoe:_ ** anyways

 

**_minhoe:_ ** we are gonna make fun of thomas for writing real life fanfiction about him and newt instead of facing his feelings right?

  
**_smartest smart ass:_ ** Without a doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> are you guys ready for some ANGST coming up because i have some nice ANGST prompts


	10. hormones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "cliche puberty hit like a train to one or both" au

newt, if you’d asked him when he was twelve, would have said that there was absolutely, positively, not way in  _ hell  _ that thomas edison (the modern one, not the camera guy)  would ever ( _ ever _ ) be as ripped or attractive as dwayne “the rock”  johnson. 

but of course, that was five years ago, and things change. change, as in mindsets, as in hormones, as in…  ~~ the realization that most males don’t think dwayne johnson is necessarily attractive enough to have a crush on, and would rather fawn over the looks of the girls in their older brother’s suggestive magazines . ~~

as in puberty.

puberty, for newt, had kicked in during his third and final  year of junior high, just like most everyone else. but thomas, who was a staggering five foot one by the beginning of eighth grade, was not nearing puberty at any time.

in fact, newt was starting to get worried that it would never start for him. they were already at the end of high school;  thomas was starting his junior year, and he was starting senior, and newt last remembered thomas being no taller than his shoulder.

what newt didn't remember was that that was more than three months ago, in the middle of june, when he was boarding a plane to england to meet relatives he’d hadn’t seen since he’d moved to the states at the age of six. three months was a long time, and he would soon learn that a lot could  _ change _ in three months. 

soon being right now, during lunch period at the first full day back at school.

“i’m glad i didn’t remember how much i bloody hate this school,” newt said, cracking open the diet coke minho’d  stolen gotten from the teacher’s lounge. “then i would have never come back.”

the two are sitting on one of the empty bleachers in the field behind the school, watching some freshman trying to impress the gym teacher.

“missed you too, you little gay shit.” minho replied, shaking one of the other two diet cokes he had in his hands.

“that’s gonna explode,” newt remarked in between sips, but minho shrugged him off.

“not in  _ my  _ face. in thomas’, when i politely offer him a cold refreshment on this warm sedona day.”

“wow, you are truly an amazing friend.”

minho laughed. “the best,” he agreed, grabbing the safe can and opening it for himself. “anyways, have you even seen thomas yet?”

“not yet, actually. haven’t spotted him or his short ass anywhere.”

"first of all, you think he;s hot," minho snorted, and patted the blond on the shoulder. “and second of all; hate to break it to you buddy, you may have been looking for the wrong person.”

newt raised an eyebrow. “what the fuck are you saying?”

“i’m saying that the thomas the tank engine isn’t a baby tank engine. he is a grown tank engine.”

“that makes no sense--”

“he finally hit puberty, at the glorious age of sixteen.” minho confirmed, clinking his can with newt’s. “he’s like, your height now. it’s crazy.”

“he could  _ not  _ have grown that much in three months.”

“he did not only  _ grow,  _ but he got muscles and stuff. went to track camp i referred him to-- i went last year, it was pretty cool-- and apparently lifted some weights, because,” he whistled. “damn.”

“and i thought i was the gayer of the two.”

“you  _ are _ , but  _ i _ would be if i didn’t swing both ways. like a tire swing. call me tire swing minho.”

“i’m pretty sure people call you things worse than that.” 

“haha, very funny.”

newt didn’t say anything, and just innocently took a sip of his drink.

“wait. are they really saying shit? like what? i swear to  _ god _ , if sonya has started spreading rumors about a daniel radcliffe tattoo  _ again _ , i will beat her up; no offense to you or anything, but rea--”

minho is interrupted by a swift, “ _ hey guys! _ ”, and newt looks up to see a fucking michelangelo sculpture with long legs and toned arms and all of a sudden newt feels like betty cooper in riverdale when casey cott sees archie stripping in front of his window after a summer of an underage affairs and exercise. 

“see?” minho muttered when he catches newt staring for a little too long. “thomas got hot!” he nudges the blond in the side before waving at thomas. “hey, tom selleck! over here.”

thomas walks over, and of course, just because some deity just loves fucking with newt’s gay dreams, he’s with teresa. not that newt has anything much against her (that’s lie, he has a list), he just wanted to spend time with his best friends instead of just.. best friends and the best friend of one of those best friend.

“newt!” thomas greets when they’re close enough. without a warning, thomas sits down next to newt and goes in for a hug, and newt almost drops his coke all over him. “i missed you.”

“get off, you twat.” newt says playfully, pushing the boy off with a sincere smile on his face.  he holds on to the brunet’s wrist with his free hand, and they lock eyes. “i missed you too.”

“what am i, then?” minho says, interrupting the too long eye contact between the two. “rotten meat?”

“you know it.” newt replies and minho kicks his foot.

“i haven’t seen you two all day. i figured we would at least have homeroom together.” teresa says. 

minho shrugs. “and have you steal all my thunder by becoming teacher’s pet? unlikely.”

“well then, thomas,” teresa says with a small laugh. “i’ll leave you here. see you fifth period?”

“wait teresa, don’t you want to stay?”

teresa shrugs and looks at her watch. “i would, but i told bren that i would meet her in front of the library in a few minutes. oh yeah,” she looks up at newt. “your sister says hi.”

newt snorts. “that’s likely.”

“yeah, she really said ‘fuck you’ but i’m assuming it’s in a non-aggressive sibling way.”

“tell her i said fuck you too.”

“will do.” teresa says with a smile.

meanwhile, minho had been offering thomas a coke--- the shaken one--- but thomas had shook his head. “teresa? you want it?” thomas asked, passing it to her with a smile. 

“yeah, actually.” she ruffled his hair. “thank you, tom.”

“well, teresa, that was actually meant for thomas, and it’s just, uh---”

_ click. _

_ szzzzz. _

_ SPLOOSH! _

“what the  _ FUCK _ ?” teresa shouted, dropping the coke and her backpack on the ground. she, along with her kanken, were completely drenched with the diet coke that had once resided inside the can. 

newt snorted again, covering his mouth with his hand as he laughed. thomas looked shocked and somewhat confused, probably wondering how the can could’ve exploded so much. minho looked frightened. probably for his life.

she turns to minho, looking livid. “you little shit!” she cries, and pulls him up by his sleeve, dragging him away without a word.

after a moment of watching minho be dragged away by the goddess of death, thomas turns to newt. “should we help him?”

“you do know that was meant for you, right?’

“oh, right. so let’s not.”

another bout of silence passes, and newt takes a long sip of his un-explosive coke. “so, uh.. you grew.”

thomas smiles shyly. “i did. i think i’m your height now.’

“that’s complete rubbish.”

“you’re just sad you can’t make short jokes anymore.”   


“or unathletic jokes.” newt says, and all his self-restraint goes out the window as he reaches forward and puts his hand on thomas’ bicep without warning. after a second, he blushes. “wait, sorry. that was gay.” he says hastily, but his hand doesn’t move.

thomas’ face is red now. “no, it’s fine. gay is okay.”   


“it is?”

“yes. i’m not a dick.”

  
newt bites back a sexually inappropriate retort. “good that.” 

“are  _ you _ a dick?” thomas says, obviously not knowing what else to say.

“where is this going, tommy?”

“somewhere, hopefully.”

“somewhere as in where? somewhere you can reach now that you’re seven feet tall?”

thomas blows a raspberry, and newt laughs and turns away, pulling his hand back. ‘so what did you do?” the brit continues. “bench press a sumo wrestler everyday for a month?’

thomas laughed. “i can’t even hold anything near that weight.”

“really? weak.” newt replied, laughing along with him. “but seriously, you look….”

“i look….?”

“hotter?”

thomas choked on his own spit. ‘wh-- what?”

“hot. you’re  hot. you look… hot. i should stop talking.”

‘i-- i mean. you’re. you’re hot too??”

“really?”

thomas swallowed and moved closer to newt. “yeah.”   


newt suddenly hoped his breath smelled okay. “are we going to kiss?” he says when their faces are close enough together. 

“if you want to.” thomas replies, breathing heavily.

newt nods and starts leaning in more. “good.”

all of a sudden, thomas pulls away, his eyes wide. “wait,” he starts, eyebrows raised and cheeks flushed. “we’re not just kissing because we think we’re hot, right? this is also unresolved sexual tension for you?”

“yes!” newt shouts, pulling the boy back in. “just kiss me already.”

so thomas, who made newt’s heart beat faster with every little glance, kissed him, and newt kissed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, this wasn't the chapter i promised, and that one is still a wip, but i swear, it's coming!! just have to get into that angst mindset, you know?
> 
> but hey, at least it's an update! (????)
> 
> also i changed tenses a lot but it's 11 pm and i was sick like yesterday give me a break
> 
> (this has not been beta'd)


	11. crashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “we got knocked down a hill by a car accident and we’re not in too good shape but rescue’s coming in a day…or three” au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for mention of suicide attempt + blood (although not graphic)

“what time did you say we were going to get there again?”

 

“well, the party starts at six, but i told teresa we’d be a little late because i know how long it takes for you to get ready.”

 

newt scoffs. he’s sitting in the passenger seat, looking outside his own window, while thomas stares straight through the windshield as he drives. “says the guy who took twenty minutes to brush his hair.”

 

they’re driving to minho’s surprise birthday party, and that normally wouldn’t be such an issue but teresa had decided to hold it at  _ her  _ place, which was half an hour away. that was the pain of going to different colleges. they were on a highway; a quiet one on a hill surrounded by a forest, and it was a peaceful place to be.

 

“well, i’m sorry that i don’t wake up with beautiful, fluffy hair like some blond i know.” thomas retorts, pretending to be offended but newt can see his smile reflected on the window. 

 

newt runs a hand through his hair subconsciously. “fluffy?”

 

“yes, newton, fluffy like wolf fur.”

 

“how strangely specific.”

 

thomas turned pink.  “well--”

 

“have you ever seen a wolf in person?” newt says, finally turning away from the window. there’s a smirk on his face, eyes raised in question as he watches thomas turn pinker. 

 

thomas shrugs. “at the zoo. or online. y’know, like,” he takes hand a off the steering wheel and curves it. “like,  _ nya _ .”

 

newt laughs, covering his mouth with his hand. “oh my  _ god _ , tommy; you’re a furry!”

 

“i am  _ not! _ ”

 

“no non-furry says nya.”

 

“you just said it!”

 

“you’re a furry.”

 

“i am not!”

 

newt rolls his eyes, moving back to look out the window. “sure. keep telling yourself that.”

 

“shut up. grab me a water bottle.”

 

“please?”

 

“no, fuck off.”

 

newt tsks. “how rude, tommy.” he unbuckles his seatbelt nonetheless, stretching himself to the backseat where they put all the necessities for a road trip (two bottles of water, minho’s present, and a whole load of candy). he leaves the water in the cup holder, and raises an eyebrow as he  “will you at least say thank you?”

 

“gracias.”

“cheers.” newt says with a smirk, and turns back to the window.

 

there’s a silence next; not awkward or anything, but lighthearted as the two boys try to find something else to talk about. thomas sneaks a glance over to newt. it’s golden hour-- the sun is setting, and the light’s reflecting perfectly. and-- caution, this is a Gay Thought-- newt looks so mesmerizing that thomas almost forgets to look back at the road.

 

“how about some music?” he suggests, his hand already moving towards the radio. 

 

“only if i pick the music.” newt replies, swatting thomas’ hand away. he takes charge of the radio immediately, skipping and skipping songs and stations faster than the flash himself. after a moment he makes a face. “ugh, who even picked these songs?”

 

thomas frowns. “i did.”

 

“mariah carey, really?”

 

“yes, really,” thomas scoffs. “she is a  _ legend. _ ”

 

“oh look, a good song, finally!” the blond cries (over-dramatically) and presses a song. thomas raises his eyebrows, waiting for the song to start playing.

once the sound of rhythmic piano and electric guitar starts to fill the car, thomas chokes on his own spit. “oh my god.”

 

“what? this is the only decent song on here.”

 

“you skipped over the immigrant song, and went straight to  _ this? _

 

newt opens his mouth to give a smart-ass remark but is interrupted by bonnie tyler. “ _ where have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods? _ ”

 

“you couldn’t even pick the shrek version.”

 

newt waves him off and starts to sing. “ _ isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery steed? late at night i toss and i turn and dream of what i need! _ ”

 

thomas rolls his eyes, but he can’t help but smile as the chorus begins. he’s no trained chorus teacher or anything, but newt’s melodious voice perfectly mixes with bonnie tyler’s own. 

 

“ _ i need a hero. _ ” he joins in, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the steering wheel, and newt grins. 

 

“ _ holding out for a hero ‘till the end of the night!”  _ they burst out.

 

thomas turns to newt for a second, just to take a mental picture of the image in front of him; newt, happy and smiling, something that he hasn’t seen so  _ real _ in a while.

 

“ _ he’s gotta be fast, he’s gotta be strong, _ ” bonnie tyler cries.

 

everything else seems to happen so quickly but in slow-motion at the same time. he’s looking at newt, about to turn back to the road, when newt’s eyes widen in alarm. “tommy! look out!”

 

_ “he’s gotta be fresh from the fight.” _

 

thomas looks up in time to see a deer standing still in front of their car, and he barely has enough time before he swerves and plows down the hill into the forest. he’s going to die, is the last thing he thinks. he’s going to die listening to bonnie tyler.

 

_ “i need a hero!” _

 

AAAAAAAAA

 

his ear itches. 

 

like, really bad. but the thing is, he can’t move his arm. i mean, he  _ can _ , but it’s stuck. he doesn’t know where or how, but he just knows that it is. he blinks, opening his eyes slowly. 

 

oh shit, he thinks, and realizes the first of three things. one, he’s been a car accident. the car--- his mom’s car, nevertheless--- had crashed into a tree and the only reason his head isn’t smashed against the tree with it is because his seatbelt’s him holding back. guess seatbelts really  _ do  _ save lives, huh?

 

the second thing he realizes is that he’s with newt. he’s with his best friend who, as far as he can see, is dead and slumped against the dashboard next to him.

 

thomas fucked up.

 

and finally, when thomas calls out his friend’s name, he realizes the third thing: he is hurt. he is bleeding. he has injuries. he has injuries from a car accident that he caused.

 

thomas is fucked up.

 

“newt!” he calls again, ignoring the pain erupting from his ankle as he tries to move around. “newt! you awake? fuck.”

 

so far, he knows this: his left arm is stuck in the seat, burning with pain. there’s blood on the steering wheel, and his head hurts, so he makes the informed decision that he had smashed his head against the steering wheel. his ankle is also in a whole lot of fucking pain, and even moving it makes him cringe. 

 

“newt!” he tries once more, but ends up choking on his own spit. he gags, spitting to the side. “this is the fucking worst.” he manages to mutter. 

 

thomas sighs. first things first; if he wants to find newt, he’s gotta get out of the car first. he tries to move the arm that’s stuck in the seat, but it’s wedged tightly between the cushions and it hurts like hell so he gives up after the first try.

 

what else? oh, right, the seatbelt. he uses his free hand to move himself over and finds the button that ejects the seatbelt. when he finds it, he has to press it a few times until the seatbelt finally lets go and he can breathe without something pressing against his chest.

 

filled with a surge of a adrenaline, thomas tries to move his caught hand again, wiggling, pulling, and twisting it painfully until it finally comes out. once it does, the adrenaline is gone, and thomas is left staring at his broken fingers with a pain-induced headache. “fuck,” he mutters for what seems like the thirtieth time. 

 

yeah, his hand is  _ definitely  _ broken. 

 

“newt?” he calls out to his friend, gingerly making his way closer to the passenger seat. “newt?? c’mon, buddy, please. just any sign to tell me you’re still breathing.” he lifts his good arm and taps lightly on his shoulder. 

 

“newt?” he says one last time, shoving the blond lightly. the guy coughs so quietly and pathetically in reply that thomas almost doesn’t hear it, but when he does he lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. 

 

“oh thank god,” thomas breathes. he uses the same hand to gingerly push newt off the dashboard and back against the seat (newt moans again, this time in more pain, but thomas tries to ignore it). 

 

needless to say, the brit looks like absolute shit (then again, if he didn’t, then thomas would be even more worried). his hair is matted with blood from a gash in his forehead that doesn’t look so deep. there is a huge knot forming on his temple, though, probably from slamming his head against the dashboard for god knows how many times.

 

his breathing seems labored, thomas notices after watching his chest rise and fall for a minute or two. maybe he has a broken rib or something (disclaimer: thomas has no clue about the signs of broken ribs, everything he knows is from watching police procedural shows). 

 

his already pretty fucked up leg also looks weird, so that’s probably not the best sign either. nevertheless, thomas tries to wake him up again. “newt? buddy? c’mon?”

 

“hm?” is his answer. “t’mas?”

 

“yeah, yeah, it’s me.” he cups newt’s cheek with his good hand. “can you, uhh-- open your eyes?”

 

“huh?”

 

“open an eyelid. please? for me?”

 

“f’ck off.” newt answers, his eyes slowly fluttering open. “t’mmy?”

 

“yeah. yeah, it’s me.” he pauses, watching as newt blinks slowly, trying to regain his bearings. “you ‘kay?”

 

newt does what looks like a half-assed attempt at a shrug. “i dunno. m’ybe.” a pause. “wh’re we?”

 

thomas gulps, glancing at the shattered windshield. what was he supposed to say? somewhere off highway 666, in a crashed minivan, where help was probably never going to come, they were going to slowly bleed out from the cuts in their arms (thanks shards of glass from the windshield!) because everyone at the party probably assumed that they were late. “i don’t know.” is what he decides on. “in the woods somewhere maybe?”

 

“wh’n?”

 

“what?”

 

“wh’n ‘re we? wh’n did we crash?””

 

“i think we crashed around six. i don’t know how long we were out though?” his head is still foggy; maybe it’s not even friday anymore. maybe it’s sunday.

 

newt frowns. “h’wre you?” he asks slowly.

 

thomas rolls his eyes. “how are you, you selfless dick?”

 

“tired.” the blond says quickly. “you?”

 

“i think my left hand’s crushed.  m’head also hurts, and i got a bunch of stupid cuts from the windshield glass. and my ankle. think it’s crushed too.” he shrugs. “now, how are  _ you _ ? how’s your.. leg?”

 

newt coughs loudly. “head h’rts. leg’s still c’mplete shit-- maybe worse. ch’st i think.”

 

“anything else?”

 

newt does what looks like a weak attempt at a shrug. “n’t that i know of.” 

 

“good.” thomas sighs. “good.”

 

he tries pushing himself back up, using his un-injured hand. “can you move?”

 

“d’nt think so.”

 

“are you gonna even try to?”

 

“nope.”

 

thomas rolls his eyes, tearing his gaze away from his pain-ridden best friend to his second course of action: contacting some help. i mean, they said they were going to be late, weren’t they? so no one would notice if they were missing until much later. wait, what if it had already been a day? what if people were already out looking for them? what if it was still the same time but everyone had figured they had bailed? oh god, what if no one was going to find them? where they going to die?

 

it was then thomas realized he was being spoken to. “tommy.” newt said. “stop th’nking so much. i c’n see your mind going a mile per minute.”

 

“sorry.” the brunet replies, turning his attention to his pocket. he uses his good hand to try and grab the phone that once resided there, but all he feels cracked glass and he can tell that it’s all fucked up without even looking at it. he almost opens his mouth to ask if newt has his, but thomas remembers that he had left it at home, saying that “if i have you with me half the time, what’s the problem? plus they’re dumb and heavy.” 

 

so thomas looks at glove box, where he was sure his mother kept a satellite phone for emergencies (she once had a boyfriend who was obsessed with apocalyptic survival, and some things just stuck with her). 

 

“do you think you can open the glove box?” he asks, and newt huffs, then coughs. 

 

“i’m not that badly injured, tommy.” newt says, gingerly pushing himself up more in the seat and reaching over to open the glove box.

 

“is there a phone in there?”

 

“uhh-- yeah, i think so.”

 

“can you pass it?”

 

newt nods (then winces, which reminds thomas that head injuries are no fucking joke). it takes a second but the blond finally makes a move to grab it and pass it over to him, but thomas shakes his head.

 

“actually, no. my hand’s kinda fucked up.”

 

“your dominant?”

 

“unfortunately.”

 

“f’ck..” newt curses, but then looks at the satellite phone in his hand. “how do i--”

 

“dial i think.. 811. then 911, duh. then 011? i can’t remember.”

 

newt presses the numbers but pauses before dialling, his thumb hovering over the final button. “i’m not letting you die.”

“wh-- what?” thomas sputters out, surprised at the sudden statement.

 

“i know you were thinking it. i’m not letting you die today.” newt repeats, his voice firm but he doesn’t look up to meet thomas’ eyes.

 

“i--.’ thomas gulps. “i won’t let you die either, but we won’t. we’re not gonna die.”

 

newt nods slowly, then finally dials.

 

“ _ 911, what is your emergency?” _

 

“we-- my friend and I crashed our car.” thomas answers slowly, closing his eyes as he speaks.

 

“ _ uh-huh. do you know where you crashed? _ ”

 

“uh-- we were on route 57 last, i think. i don’t know.”

 

“i thought it was 55.” newt mutters quietly.   
  
“or 55, then.” thomas continues with a frown. “i don’t--”

 

“ _ it’s okay sir. what is your name?” _

 

“thomas. thomas edison.”

 

“ _ and your friend’s? _ ”

 

thomas lets out a painful laugh. “isaac newton.”

 

he can feel the 911 responder nod as she asks, “ _ okay, mr. edison. dispatchers are being sent to your surrounding location now. _ ” she pauses. “ _ what are your immediate injuries? _ ”

 

thomas gulps, looking up at newt, whose eyes had also closed at some point. he was leaning more against his seat, and thomas’ heart sped up. he looks back down at the phone in the blond’s hand.

 

“i-- i think my friend--- newt, i think he’s hurt bad. i don’t know. i might just be exaggerating but he’s not breathing really well and his head is bleeding and his leg, which was already pretty bad from another non-car accident, is also pretty fucked up but--”

 

“ _ calm down, sir. and you?” _

 

“my hand is broken. at least some of my fingers are-- i don’t know, i’m not a med student--- and my head also hurts like a bitch and,” he swallows painfully, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. “and my ankle. i can barely move it, but i think newt’s worse. i think he fell asleep, and i’m pretty sure you can’t do that when you have a possible head injury, but i was only a boy scout for six months, so..”

 

“that’s okay. can you try waking him up for me, then?”

 

thomas nods, then remembers that she can’t see him. “uh, yeah.”

 

thomas looks at newt, who still hasn’t moved (the back of his brain quietly notes that he’s breathing). using his good hand, he nudges the boy’s shoulder like he had done earlier. “newt. newton.”

 

“hnnrgh?”

 

“wake up, you dick.”

 

“f’ck you.”

 

“newt,” thomas pleads. “open your eyes, please.”

 

newt slowly opens his eyes again, and thomas notices that they’re a little unfocused. “newt?”

 

“what?”

 

“ _ good, keep him talking. _ ” the responder continues. “ _ talk about something. anything. _ ”

 

“why?” thomas says, question directed to her. 

 

“ _ to make sure you two don’t doze off before help gets there. i’ve sent your location along, but it can’t always be exact. we need at least one of you awake, to alert the first responders, and the two of you have to stay awake. just in case. _ ”

 

“just in case we don’t fall into a coma?”

 

she hesitates. “ _ yes, to put it bluntly.” _

 

“uh-huh.” thomas says, and smiles back at newt. “you feeling okay?”

 

“s’me as always.”

 

“same.’ thomas sighs. it almost makes him laugh how he’s barely five seconds into a conversation and he has no idea what to talk about.

 

“and recently,” he starts. “how have you been?”

 

newt coughs and shrugs. “could be better.”

 

“better how?”

 

“well, f’r one, not b’ing in an accid’nt.”

 

“yeah. but, don’t worry. help’ll come in soon. nothing’ll happen to us.”

 

“you sound sure.” newt mutters, tone solemn. 

 

“yeah, well, we found help, didn’t we?”

“who knows when they’ll c’me?”

 

thomas frowns. “pessimist.”

 

“it’s just.. i’ve been like this before.”

 

thomas blinks, surprised. “what?”

 

“before.” newt mutters, staring straight ahead through the cracked windshield. “before this. when i..”

 

“when you fell?”

 

“yeah.”

 

(by now, the dispatcher has put them on hold, and the monotonous tone of the  _ BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP _ fills the air.)

 

“do you wanna… t’lk about it?”

 

newt shrugs again. “if we die, it’ll be nice if i at least got my feelings out, wouldn’t it?”

 

thomas scowls. “stop saying we’re going to die!” he shouts impatiently. “we’re not going to die. we’re going to be fine! you have to stop saying that!” he can feel his eyes start filling up with tears. ”stop. it’s not funny.”

 

they’re not going to die. thomas won’t let them.

 

“...sorry.” newt responds after a moment. he fidgets in he seat, wincing when he accidentally moves his already-bad-but-worse-leg. “sorry, i just---”

 

“yeah. i know. i should be the one saying sorry, though. i’m just..”

 

“anxious?”

“well, yeah. this is a dang’rous situation. who wouldn’t be?”

 

“if you’re not scared you aren’t human.” newt says, but he seems to say it more to himself. after a pause, he continues. “what’re you s’rry for?”

 

thomas takes a moment to think. there’s a lot of things he sorry for. he’s sorry for not being there as much as he could’ve for his mom, sorry for accidentally tripping minho in the sixth grade when they were walking to the cafeteria, sorry for watching his best friend fall to pieces in front of him and not noticing until it was too late even when all the signs were there.

 

“i’m just.. sorry.” is what he decides on saying, letting a tear fall down his cheek. 

 

newt seems to get the meaning behind that pathetic sentence. “it wasn’t y’ur fault, y’know.” he says, his voice barely above a whisper. he’s still staring through the windshield, his face blank and void of all emotion. “i jumped because i.. w’nted to? it felt right, i think. just cl’mbing up there, the wind in your face, the stars out and shiny…”

 

“there was nothing you coulda’ done to stop it. it was me. you did nothing wrong.”

 

“i could’ve done more--”

 

“when i was falling, though, is when i think i started to regret it.” newt interrupts, blinking slowly. “i tried to keep my balance right before i fell off the edge of the building. i think i reached out to stop myself but---” he caught himself before he could finish the sentence. “n’vermind. it’s mad.”

 

“no.” thomas says softly. “tell me?”

 

“right before i hit the ground i realized that...i felt free. i felt like that, that  out of everything in my life thus far, that was the only thing i could control and just making a decision about it--- my  _ own decision _ .” he paused to cough. “i think i smiled.”

 

“oh.”

 

“and then i woke up in the psych floor of glade hosp’tal and i re’lized that s’meone else had vetoed my decision. i guess it was a veto that.. that i guess was a good veto in the end.”

 

“but this?” newt huffs, gingerly moving his torso to the left side so he could face thomas directly (he winced only twice). “this isn’t how i wanted it to end. i’m not dying like this, with my own death ch’sen for me. absolutely not.” newt reaches over slowly and clasps his hand over thomas’ un-injured one. “i’m not letting you die.”

 

thomas blinks, taking in the moment. “i---”

 

newt cuts him off with a kiss. not very long, but not short either. as goldilocks would say: just perfect. “i wasn’t going to die without doing that either.”

 

“i love you. we’re not going to die.”

 

“we’re not going to die.” newt repeats slowly, squeezing his hand. he coughs again, then again, and then one more time.

 

“you feeling okay?” thomas asks, now worried again, with all the determination that had been coursing through him now gone.

 

“yeah, j’st.. my chest, i think..” he coughs.

 

then they hear the best noise in their lives: sirens, along with their names (their first, full ones, as that’s all the dispatcher probably gave the first responders).

 

“over here!” thomas screams, his voice hoarse. he looks at newt, who’s still coughing. “hurry!”

 

everything else happens so quickly that later, thomas is unsure it even happened.

 

newt had coughed once more, but with blood coming out instead of regular not-visible carbon dioxide. out of the corner of his eye, he can see paramedics with stretchers and what looks like maybe a police officer coming along with them, running towards thomas’ mom’s crashed car.

“newt-- newt, buddy, stay with me.” thomas says, trying to meet the blond’s eyes. ‘don’t die. we’re not dying.” 

 

the responders are now ripping apart the car doors, shouting support. the door is open now, but thomas doesn’t notice, still trying to keep his friend focused. someone grabs him and starts pulling him back, but he screams for newt, who’s having a harder time getting out of the car. 

 

“sir, sir, you have to calm down. i-- i can’t, i have to---”

 

“your friend will be fine, sir, but please, you have to calm down and let us get our job done.”

 

“newt!” he tries one more time, but he’s moved onto a stretcher and he loses sight of the most important thing in his life as of this moment. “new--” he feels a sharp sting in his arm, his words dying in his mouth.

 

as his eyes flutter closed, all he has left is a bitter taste in his mouth and the worst song possible echoing in his head.

 

_ “i need a hero!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> miss me? ;)
> 
> so yes, this was the long awaited chapter and i know it took very long but today i just had myself sit down and finish it. it's been a hard week for me, emotionally and psychically, but i can't seem to write proper, heart-wrenching angst unless i breakdown beforehand. luckily, i kinda did for this? i'm better now, so it's all cool. 
> 
> i really hope you all liked this, though. it's a solid 15 pages on google docs and i hope it met your expectations even tho it probably didn't lol :) i was just feeling a bit un-inspired with this fandom but a fic i enjoyed updated and after binge-watching the beginning of supernatural season 8 so i wa sin a good mood.
> 
> have an amazing day/night <3


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